Pop goes the Weasel
by Djuro
Summary: Jade get's an opportunity of a lifetime. But that opportunity means leaving everyone for a period of time. How will they deal with it. Can Jade make it without Beck, Cat, Tori, Andre and Robbie? Or is it them who need her? Read/Review. Rated T
1. The offer

Pop goes the Weasel

The atmosphere in Beck's RV was so intense; you could cut it with a knife. Or with a pair of scissors, in Jade's case. She had been pacing for two hours now without a break. She was nervous.

"Will you calm down?" Beck asked, trying to stop her from walking a hole into his floor.

"I won't calm down! They said they would call today if they picked me and they didn't call yet!" she said, louder than necessary.

"They will pick your script. You've been working on it for three years now. It's perfect." Beck told her. Jade had sent her script in to Paramount, one of the world's largest movie production companies. They were looking for scripts for a horror-thriller, and Jade had sent in a script she had been working on for years. It was about a killer who would murder his victims after torturing them and leave a Jack in the Box that played the song and left a note for the police. She sent it in and they told her they would call her until a certain date if they picked her. And today was the last day.

"No! If it was perfect, they would have already called me and said that they are going to buy it! But they didn't call did they!"

Beck threw his arms up in defeat. He wasn't mad at her reaction. He understood her nervousness. This was an opportunity in a lifetime. Suddenly, Jade stopped.

"You know what? Screw them. I'm done waiting. Let's go somewhere. They won't call anyway. Bastards!" She said as she went to pick up her bag. Right then, her phone rang. Her heart stopped. She couldn't move.

"Jade? Jade!" Beck yelled. "Answer it!" he said as he tossed her the phone. She struggled with hitting the answer button, but finally succeeded.

"Hello? Yes, it's me…. Really? Oh thank you so much!" she said in excitement, a big smile forming on her lips. Beck smiled himself. This was great. "Of course, I'll be there tomorrow. Yes, I know where it is. Ok. See you tomorrow. Thank you again. Bye!" she said as the other line. She sat down on the bed. She couldn't believe it. They want her script.

"What did they say?" Beck asked, tired of waiting for her to get a grip. She looked up at him, a smile so wide it could rip her face if she smiled even a bit more.

"They loved it. I'm going to meet the producer tomorrow at noon in their office here in Hollywood. He said he wants to discuss the details. Oh my god, they picked my script!" she said as she jumped up and kissed him, wrapping her arms around him afterwards. He held her, happy for her. She really worked hard on that script. For two years, she had read it over, corrected some mistakes, and rewritten some parts to make it better. And now, it paid off.

"We need to tell the others." Beck told her.

"Can you call them? My hands are still kinda shaking." She said, sitting down again to calm down. It was a dream coming true.

"Sure. I'll tell them to meet us at the cafe." He said as he picked up his phone and started sending the messages. He still didn't tell them about Paramount accepting Jade's script. Jade would tell them there. He looked back at her. She looked more excited than ever.

"There, I told them all to meet us there in an hour." He said as he returned his phone into his pocket. He sat down next to her and placed his arm around her shoulder. She turned in his arm and kissed him intensely. After a few minutes, she pulled away. She needed to breathe sometimes, too.

"Do you know how happy I am? First, I have you back, then my dad gets rid of that bitch he dated for the past year, and now this. This can't get better." She said as she lied down on his chest, his arm securely around her.

"I didn't want to tell you this…" he said as she got up so she could look him in the eyes," But… I told you so." He said with a laugh.

"Jerk!" she responded. Yes. He did tell her so. And thank god he was right.

The gang was sitting on their usual table at their favorite café. They were waiting for Beck and Jade. They were late again.

"Hey, do you think this is about Jade's script?" Andre asked, looking at his friends.

"Maybe, I don't know. Do you think they picked her story?" Robbie wondered himself.

"Today is the last day. If it is, then we should celebrate." Tori responded. They all nodded in agreement.

"But what if it isn't? What if they didn't pick hers?" Robbie asked.

"They must have. She worked on this for so long. And it's really good. I always get scared when she talks about it." Cat said, remembering how Jade would describe the killings in very graphical detail to her.

"Cat is right. And they were looking for such a plot for the new movie. Hell, if I remember right she made some drawings of how the murder scenes should look." Tori agreed.

"Yeah, I remember. Freaked the hell out of me." Andre said. "Hey, there they are."

Beck and Jade slowly approached. They were in no rush. They didn't care that they were late. The others should be used to it by now.

"Hey guys." Beck greeted them. His expression was his usual one. Jade was as grim as always. She had to use all her acting to hide the smile she had since that phone call.

"Hi." She said in her usual voice. Beck looked at her. "_Damn, she is good." _He thought.

They sat down with the others. Silence filled the table. They others were waiting for Jade to spill the news. But she didn't say a word. And neither did Beck.

"So?" Tori started. She wanted to know.

"So what?" Jade responded, looking at Tori with the usual annoyed look.

"Your script? Did they call? Today is the last day." Tori said. Her curiosity was killing her.

"Oh, that was today." Jade simply stated, turning around to the waitress to order her coffee.

"They didn't call? Jade. I'm so sorry." Andre said, hoping she wouldn't kill them in a minute.

"I don't know what you are talking about." Jade said with a straight face.

"You don't know what we are… Jade, you've been talking about it for the past month. Are you kidding me?" Robbie said, quickly averting his eyes from her before she could glare at him.

"Jade?" Cat asked, a confused look appearing on her face.  
Jade finally couldn't take it anymore. Her smile reappeared and she began to laugh at her friends. Beck smiled himself. Good thing he didn't have to say anything. He barely kept it together.

"They accepted?" Cat asked, her face lighting up in excitement.

"Yes, they did. They want my script." Jade said proudly. Cat jumped up and ran over to her. She wrapped her arms around her best friend, happy for the amazing news. The others congratulated her too. The mood on the table was completely changed. Jade couldn't wait to talk with the producer.

"So you are going to meet him tomorrow?" Andre asked.

"Yup. We are going to talk out the details and I'll sign the contract. I wonder how much they are going to pay me." Jade said, not actually caring so much about the money. She was happy her idea would be transferred to the big screen.

"Well, what if they ask you to write some more?" Tori wondered.

"I'm just glad they liked this one. I don't want to rush things with my expectations." Jade said.

"Yeah, but think about it. They make this movie, it becomes a success. It's only natural they are going to ask you to write more. Maybe a sequel?" Beck said

"Guys, can we wait until they film this one before you get my hopes up?" Jade said with a smile.

"Yeah, yeah, sorry." Beck apologized.

"I can't believe I'm friends with a to be famous screenwriter." Tori joked.

"Who says we're friends?" Jade asked, hiding her smirk. Tori looked at her, a bit hurt.

"Well…" she said, turning to the others. Jade let out her laugh. She really enjoyed this.

They sat there for a few hours, joking how in the future they can all star in one of the movies Jade will write. After they were done, they all went home. Jade wanted to go and prepare for tomorrow.

Jade told her father when he came home. She simply wanted him to know. She didn't expect any reaction from the cold and judgmental man. This is why his reaction shocked her even more. He was happy. When she told him he hugged her and kissed her on the head.

"I'm so proud of you. I knew you had it in you. I knew it since I saw your theatre play that day!" he proudly said, leaving her speechless. He never told her that he was proud. He never said that he believed in her. And now this? After she talked to him, she went upstairs and lied down on her bed. Unbeknownst to her, the others planned a surprise party for her tomorrow evening at Tori's place. She couldn't sleep. She couldn't wait to talk to the producer.

The night flew by. She didn't sleep, but it didn't matter to her. She was too excited to care. She stood in front of the Paramount building. She remembered what the producer told her. 12th floor. She entered the elevator and pushed the button. After a minute, she was there. She looked around at the interior She had never been to such a place. It wouldn't bother her if she had to come here to negotiate again. She then walked over to the secretary. The woman was typing when she noticed the young girl standing in front of the desk.

"Can I help you?" she politely asked the Goth.

"Hello. I'm Jade West. I came here to talk about my script. I was told to come here." Jade explained, a bit nervous.

"Oh, yes. A minute please." The secretary said and pressed a button on her phone. "Mr. Oswald, Miss Vest is here."

"Thank you Stephanie. Send her in." was the answer. The secretary got up and signaled her to follow. After a few doors, she knocked before opening and motioning Jade to enter. Jade did so. She looked at the big office in awe. The view was amazing. The flowers were beautiful. The wall was full of posters of previous Paramount horror movies. Behind the desk, a dark haired man, late twenties, young thirties stood up and walked towards her. He was wearing a dark suit with a white shirt.

"Jade West?" he asked. She only nodded. "Hello. My name is Jacob Oswalt. We talked on the phone." He said as he extended his hand.

"Jadelyn West." She said and shook his hand.

"Please, take a seat." He said, pointing towards the chair in front of his desk. He walked around and took some papers out. He sat down and wrote something on them.

"Can I call you Jade? You can call me Jacob. I'm not that old to be called Mr. Oswalt." he asked, looking up at her.

"Sure." she said with a smile.

"I'll be honest. I loved your script. I read it all in one sitting. I was hooked from the first page up to the last. And my higher ups agree with me. We love the atmosphere you created throughout the whole plot. The main character is incredibly easy to connect too while the murders are both exciting and scary. How you used a song as "Pop goes the Weasel" and a toy like the Jack in the Box to create such a scary atmosphere is really astonishing. And the drawings were a great addition too." He explained. Jade smiled at the compliments.

"Thank you. I've been working on the script for three years now. Changing it, perfecting it, etc. I really gave a lot of thought to it. I had many ideas about what could be done, but I only picked the best ones. I'm glad you like it." She said.

"Me and my bosses agreed that a story like this should be put in special hands. You see, right now, Paramount is focusing on finding young talent. Young writers, young actors and also young directors. My question to you is, how would you like to direct this movie?" Jacob asked. He looked at her expression, slightly amused. She looked at him, stunned. She didn't blink; her mouth open, her hand's clinging to the chair she was sitting in.

"D… d… direct it? Me?" she stuttered. He looked down at the script.

"Yes. I am a big horror fan myself, and I've overlooked the production of some. You have some great ideas which we believe you could transfer the best on the big screen. So I offer you the job of directing this movie. Here is the deal. If you don't want to, no problem, we will buy the script. The offer for the script is 20,000$. The fees are usually higher, but since this is a low budget movie in today's standards, I can't offer more. If you decide to direct it, we will pay you 30,000$ per month with a 3% share of the total earnings. The filming will last 6 months, and we will film over in Florida. The studio already found a great location." Jacob explained. Jade's face fell a bit. 6 months in Florida? That was on the other side of the country. She wouldn't see her friends this whole time. She would miss school. But this was an opportunity of a lifetime.

"6 m.. Months in Florida?" she asked. Jacob noticed the change in her expression.

"Yeah, that is the downside. We are going to pay the hotel and the plane ticked. But I guess that is not the problem."

"No… This is an amazing offer. But… you know, my boyfriend and my friends." She sighed. Of course there was something like this. Nothing could go on without complications.

"How about you give me a call in two days? Or earlier, if you make up your mind. Talk to your friends and your boyfriend. I know this is a difficult decision, but think about it. This can be the beginning of your professional career. Let me know, and I'll contact your school. At least I can take care of that." He said as he gave her his business card with his number on it. She took it and looked at him.

"Thank you so much." She said.

"Don't worry. Give me a call when you decide what you want to do. If there is nothing else, I have a meeting in an hour." He said as he placed some documents in his suitcase. Jade got up.

"Goodbye. I'll give you a call." She said and left his office. She waved Stephanie goodbye and entered the elevator. She couldn't make up her mind. Direct a movie. The one she wrote herself. This was her dream. But what about the others? Beck? Cat? Tori? Andre? Robbie? 6 months without them. She didn't know. She needed to talk to them. Thank god they were having a poker night at Tori's today. Then she could tell them the news and ask them for advice.


	2. Announcement

Jade was walking towards Beck's place. She didn't know what to think. How she should tell him. This was an opportunity of a lifetime for her. She would direct her own movie. It could become be a hit. It could be the start of a career as a director, something she always wanted to do. She wrote and directed so many plays so she could be prepared as much as possible if that dream came true. And now it is coming true. But for that, she had to go to Florida for 6 whole months. 6 months she wouldn't see her boyfriend of two years with who she reconciled not a month ago. 6 months without making music with Andre. 6 months without Joking with Robbie. 6 months without her and Tori having these deadpan remarks at one another she so enjoyed. 6 months without Cat. Without her best friend. She wanted to cry. But she was at Beck's place now. She needed to talk to him. She needed to hear what he thinks. She didn't know. She knocked on his door, trying to stop herself from crying. After a moment he opened the door.

"Hey." He greeted with a happy expression, but it instantly changed when he saw Jade barely keeping it together. "What's wrong?" he asked as he placed his hands on her shoulders. He led her inside and she started crying. He sat her down and wrapped his arms around her.

"Did something happen? They didn't deny your script now, did they?" he asked, worried that it might be that. But she only shook her head.

"No. Far… far from that." She sniffed.

"What happened then?"

"They… Jacob… the producer offered me to direct the film too. He… he said he liked the way I wrote it… and believed only I could transfer everything… everything on the screen." She explained.

"Jade, that's wonderful!" Beck said, not understanding her reaction. "This is what you always dreamed about."

"Yes, but… but the filming is in Florida. If… if I accept, I'll work there for 6 months." She explained. Beck's expression changed. Now it made sense.

"Jade. You have to accept this." He calmly said as he looked into her green eyes. She looked at him, surprised at his calmness.

"But… I won't be able… to see you… anyone… 6 months." She said trough her tears.

"I know. I know… But Jade, This is your opportunity. This is your chance."

"Beck, we just got together. And now I would have to leave you for another 6 months. What will happen with us if I leave?" she said, finally getting her crying under control. He shook his head and smiled.

"What will happen is that I will wait for you to come back as a famous director and screenwriter. And then we will be together again and I will brag that I am banging a celebrity." He said with a smirk. She punched his arm playfully. He made her laugh. He always knew how to do that.

"Jerk! I'm serious!" she said, still laughing.

"What? So am I." he said, biting his lip so he wouldn't laugh again.

"Idiot!" she said and hugged him. "How can I make it 6 months without you?"

"Hey. I'll call you whenever you have time. We won't loose contact. I have faith in this relationship. That's why I wanted you back. I know we can make it. And I also know that you will make one of the best movies this world has ever seen." He proudly told her. She only leaned in and kissed him.

"I love you." She told him. He put his both hands on her cheek and looked her into her green eyes.

"I love you too. And you are going to take that offer. I won't allow you to throw away this opportunity."

"But what about the others? What are they going to say? I'm going to miss them too." She said.

"Well, ask them yourself. We are having poker night at their place tonight, so there is your opportunity."

"You're right. Thank you." She said before kissing him again. She wanted to kiss him as much as possible before she left. She was afraid that their relationship wouldn't work for this long on that distance. But if Beck had faith in it, then so would she.

"I have to get home. My dad will want to hear how it went."

"Your dad?" Beck said, completely stunned. "As in Mr. West? Your father? The cold, judgmental guy you never said a nice thing about?" he said, completely taken aback at the though that he was interested in his daughters activities.

"Yeah, that guy." Jade chuckled. "When I told him about my script getting accepted, he hugged me and told me how proud he was. I was as stunned as you are now."

"Hell might freeze over how this started." Beck said, shaking his head, earning another punch in the arm.

She arrived home not too long after that. Mr. West was sitting on the couch, reading the newspapers. Jade sat down on the sofa. As soon as she sat down, he put down the papers and looked at her, a curious expression on his face.

"How did it go?" he asked.

"It went well. They are buying my script for 20,000$." She proudly said.

"Well, that's not bad. Although I thought they paid more these days. Maybe another company would have offered more for it, you know." He said a bit disappointed. He believed his daughters work would be worth more.

"It's a low budget movie, and it's my first script, so he couldn't offer more. But that's not all."

"There is more?" Mr. West wondered.

"They want me to produce it, too. They believe that only I can transfer the movie completely from the script onto the screen."

"Jade, that's wonderful!" he said as he got up and hugged her.

"Yeah, but there is a downside." She said, her voice loosing it's cheerful tone it had a moment ago.

"Ah, yes. There is always a downside." The businessman shook his head as he sat down. "What is it?"

"They are shooting it in Florida. I would work there for 6 months." She said.

"Oh. Well, that is quite something."

"Jacob, the producer, told me that he would handle things with the school and the hotel would be paid for me. Also, the pay isn't bad. 30 grant a month and a 3% share from the total profit." She explained, studying her father who had his businessman pokerface on.

"I understand. Do you want to go?" he asked, looking back at his daughter.

"I do. It's been my dream to do this for so long now. I've worked on that script for years. I've written theatre and directed my plays only to be prepared for such a situation. And now it's here. But 6 months without Beck, my friends… you." She said in a sad tone as she looked up at her father.

"Jade, you have to take this opportunity. If the only obstacle is that you won't see some people for a while, then it is worth taking the risk." He said as he leaned back. "If your boyfriend loves you, and if your friend love you, than they will be happy for your opportunity and will wait for you to come back."

"Beck already gave me his okay."

"And you have my blessing too. I know I didn't pay attention to your work before. But it was mostly because I had no idea about or interest in art. But since I saw your play about the girl in that fell in the well, I understood. And now, I'm giving you my full support. I'm proud of you, Jade." He said with a smile. A proud smile. She never believed she would hear these words from him. That she would see him smile like this because of her.

"Thank you." She said as she hugged the man.

The evening came fast. Beck was driving to Jade's place to pick her up. He didn't tell the others about Jade leaving. Jade had to do that. He was thinking about her. 6 months. It wasn't a long time objectively, but 6 months without the love of your life feels like forever. He knew it. When Jade and him broke up it took them 6 months to get back. Those were the worst 6 months of his life. But they were back together now. And he could make it. He would do it for her. It was her dream after all. It was her opportunity.

He parked into her driveway. She came out after a moment and sat down on the passenger seat.

"Hey." She greeted him before giving him a quick kiss.

"Hey." He answered back. "And? What did your dad say?"

"He gave me his blessing." Jade said with a smile.

"Wow. If anyone had told me this a week ago, I would have called him crazy. Hell, I can't believe it now. And you are telling me." He said shaking his head.

"Yeah, I know. Guess how I felt yesterday. And it was the same today. To hear him say that he is proud of me… he really sounded as if he cared."

"Maybe he did, but simply didn't know how to show it."

"You are right. He did say that he didn't take interest into art until he saw my play."

"That with the girl that fell into the well, and drowned in her tears?"

"Yeah, that one."

"Another masterpiece you wrote." Beck said with a smirk. Jade smiled at the compliment. She wasn't really used to it. "Here we are." He said as they drove into the Vega driveway.

"Is no one here yet?" Jade wondered.

"No idea." Just at that moment Beck's phone rang. It was Andre.

"Yeah? Where are you? Aw man! Alright. Alright. I'll pick you guys up." Beck sighed and hung up.

"What happened?" Jade asked, concern in her voice and on her face.

"Andre's car broke down after he picked up Cat and Robbie. I'll go get them. You go in. Tori is there." Beck sighed. Great. Now the surprise party, surprisingly, wouldn't happen as planned. _Stupid car!_ he thought.

"Oh. Okay. I guess I can tell Tori the good news. She is probably going to love that I'm leaving."

"Why do you think that she doesn't like you?"

"Why would she? I always make fun of her." Jade shrugged. Beck, already a bit frustrated, pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Well, talk to her and you'll see her reaction." Beck said as Jade got out of the car. He drove out of the driveway and towards Robbie's place. It would take at least 10 minutes to get there.

"I guess today nothing goes right." He said to himself as he drove off.

Jade knocked on the door.

"I'm coming." Was heard. It was Tori. A few seconds later, Tori opened the door.

"Hey Jade." She said as she looked around. "Where is Beck?"

"Andre's car broke down so Beck went to pick them up." Jade said as she got into the house. She sat down on the couch. She heard Tori curse under her breath.

"What's the matter?" Jade looked over at Tori. First Beck is all fussed up about having to pick the others up and now Tori.

"Oh, nothing. How did the meeting with the producer go?" Tori changed the subject as she sat down. Well, so much for the surprise party. _What else could go wrong?_ She thought.

"Well, not only are they going to buy my script, but they offered me a job as the director of that movie." Jade summarized. Tori's eyes grew and so did her smile.

"Jade! That's wonderful! You are making your own movie." Tori said full with enthusiasm. She was really happy for her. This was even better than she had expected. But Jade's expression did not match that same enthusiasm.

"What's the matter? Aren't you happy?" Tori asked, worried about Jade's expression. Jade looked up at her.

"The movie is filmed in Florida. I would be gone for 6 months." Jade said. Tori's smile faded. It was replaced by shock.

"6 months? In Florida?" she gasped. Jade only nodded. She got up and walked a bit trough the living room, not being able to sit still.

"I've already talked to Beck and dad. They both want me to go. To live my dream. To take my chance and make the best of it."

"Your dad?" Tori said with a raised eyebrow. Jade chuckled weakly.

"Yeah, he is supportive of my goals ever since that play you helped me put on. Since then, he grew more interested into my work. I didn't notice. But when I told him about my script being bought, he said how proud he was. He had a smile on his face. Thank you again for helping me with that play. It really opened his eyes." Jade said as she looked at Tori.

"No problem. Go on." Tori told her, wanting to hear it all.

"Beck said he know that we can make it trough it. That he has faith in us. I have his blessing. I have my fathers blessing. But then there are you guys. You. Robbie. Andre. Cat…" she said, looking down at the memory of her best friend. "I will miss you all. And I'm not sure if I want to go. I don't know if I can make it without you guys." Jade finished, looking back at Tori. Tori got up from the couch and walked over to Jade. She stood in front of her and placed her hand on the Goths arm, rubbing it gently.

"Jade. This is your chance. You will go there, you will make your movie, no, the best damn horror movie ever, you will become a famous director, and then you will come back here. And when you come back, Beck will be waiting for you. The others will be waiting for you. I will be waiting for you. And just so you know. I'm going to miss you. Honestly, I don't want you to go. I hate the idea of not seeing you for 6 months. But that would be selfish from me. And a real friend doesn't do that. So I'm telling you, go. Make your dream come true." Tori said with a smile. She meant every word she said. She was proud at her friend. She knew how much effort she put in each one of her works. And it finally is paying of for her.

"Thank you." Jade said, slowly tearing up as she leaned in and hugged Tori. Tori hugged her back.

"I'm proud of you. You deserve this chance. We are all on your side." Just as Tori finished, the door opened. Beck, Andre, Robbie and Cat entered the house. They all froze still when they saw the crying Jade hugging Tori.

"Hell freezing over." Beck yelled, earning a glare from Jade, to which he responded with a smirk.

"Well, so much for the surprise party." Andre sighed.

"Surprise party?" Jade said, looking at her friends.

"Yeah. It was Cat's idea. We wanted to throw you a party for your script. Stupid car!" Robbie said.

"Hey man. Don't talk like that about my car." Andre told him, acting hurt. Cat walked over to Jade.

"I'm sorry it didn't work out with the party. But at least you have success with your script. How did it go?" Cat asked.

"Everyone, I got an announcement to make!" Jade said. The others sat down. Beck glanced at Tori, who only nodded, signaling him that she knew. He nodded back and turned his attention back to Jade.

"I've been offered to direct the movie. The producer told me that they wanted me to transfer my idea to the big screen." Jade said.

"Jade, that's amazing news!" Robbie said.

"Congratulations!" Andre uttered.

"Jade! You've always wanted to do this. I'm so happy for you!" Cat said as she got up and hugged the taller girl around the waist.

"But…" Jade said, earning the attention of everyone. "The filming will take place in Florida. And it will last 6 months. So if I agree, I will be there." She finished, looking at them. They all sat there in silence. Cat let go of her friend and took a step back. She was shocked.

"Jade, you should take it." Andre said as he got up.

"I agree." Robbie joined in. "6 months will fly by."

"Robbie is right. And when you come back, we all can go to the premiere of your movie here. Even if I'm sure that it will scare me to death." Andre said with a smile.

"Thank you guys." Jade smiled back at them. She then looked over at Cat, who hasn't said anything. Cat only shook her head and ran upstairs. After a moment, Tori got up.

"I'll go talk to her." Tori offered.

"No. I'll go." Jade said and went upstairs. She did expect this to happen.


	3. Last forever

Jade ran upstairs, trying to find Cat. She knew that the Vega's weren't home. They always left the house when they had poker night and Trina would go have a sleepover or something. She checked every room.

"Cat?" she called, but got no answer. Then she saw the slide door to the balcony. She walked outside, hugging herself at the chilly evening. She looked around and found what she was searching for. Cat was standing by the rail, leaning on it with both hands. She was watching the night sky. Jade slowly walked next to her. She saw her friend's tears run down her face.

"Cat…" Jade tried to speak, but Cat interrupted her.

"I'm happy for you." Cat said, tears freely running down her face. "I really am. I know that you always dreamt of this. I know that this is your opportunity."

"Cat… If you don't want me to leave, I'll stay." Jade said, looking at her best friend. Cat turned her head to face her best friend.

"Honestly, I don't want you to leave. I don't want to even think about the idea of not seeing you for 6 months. I have to cry even at that idea. But if I do that, I would hate myself. I wouldn't be your best friend if I stood between you and this amazing chance you have." Cat said confidently.

"I don't want to leave you guys too. I especially don't want to leave you Cat. You are my best friend. And I want to cry the very moment I imagine not seeing you for such a long period. But I will call you everyday. We can talk trough video chat. We can simply chat trough the Slap. We will stay in contact, no matter what." Jade explained.

"No, we won't." Cat said, stunning her dark haired friend.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jade asked, looking confused. "Wait, did I say that?"

Cat chuckled. She knew Jade had the best intentions. But Cat also knew that things can't always go as planned.

"Jade. You are going to work there the whole day. You will go into your hotel. You will lie down on your bed and then fall asleep like nothing. And then you will get up to work again. You won't have time to keep contact with everyone on a daily basis." Cat explained. Jade knew that Cat was way smarter than anyone gave her credit for. She was really smart when she actually wanted to think about something. "I don't expect to hear from you every day. I know I can't expect that. You have to talk to Beck. You have to rest sometimes. I'm fine if you just call me once in a while. That's not the problem. The problem is that I won't see you. I won't be able to simply sit down with you and talk. Listen to music. Just hang out with my best friend." Cat said as fresh tears began to form themselves. She tried to blink them away, but to no avail.

"Cat, I…"

"I know I will simply miss you. And there is nothing that can change that. But I want you to go. I won't be the reason why you couldn't do what you always wanted to do. What you really do best. But I'm afraid Jade. I'm afraid that after 6 months, when you come back, I won't be your best friend. That you could change. That this experience could drift you away from me. I'm afraid of that. But I hope it won't be that way." Cat finished, trying to wipe away her tears.

Jade pulled her friend into a hug. Cat hugged her back around the waist.

"I don't care what happens there. I don't care how long I will be away Cat, you will always be my best friend. And that is it. I am going to miss you too. I am going to miss all of you. But when I come back, you will be proud of me. And we will all make up for the time I was away. Especially the two of us. I promise you, the first thing I am going to do when I come back is invite you to a sleepover. And I tell you again, and you know that I can't lie to you. You are my best friend, you have been for so long, and you always will be. And nothing can change that." Jade said as she hugged the crying redhead. Jade was crying herself. "I understand your fear. I understand why you feel this way. But you are the last person I want to hurt. The only person I don't want to hurt. And I promise you, I won't."

They stood there for a few minutes. When they stopped crying, they went to the bathroom to fix their make up. They both walked down and joined the others. They didn't ask them any questions. This was between the Goth and the redhead. The others knew to keep their noses out of it. They continued the evening by talking, listening to music, dancing, singing. Jade was enjoying every moment. Right now she was dancing with Beck as Miracles by Jefferson Starship was playing in the background. Jade had her arms around his neck while Beck had his arms around her waist. The others watched them.

"Took them long enough." Robbie commented, earning a chuckle from Andre.

"You're absolutely right about that." Andre said and then turned his eyes at his friend. "Dude, where is Rex? I haven't seen that puppet for a few days now." Robbie chuckled at the question and simply shrugged.

"I don't need him anymore. I accepted that character as part of myself. Took me only a few years."

"But why did you have him in the first place? If you want to tell me."

"Sure. I guess I just had a problem with changing myself. I began noticing all those things. How my opinions changed. How I spoke to people. How I treated them. I simply didn't want to risk loosing anyone because of that. And since I was a good ventriloquist, I created Rex. My bad side." Robbie explained. "I used him to somewhat keep myself in check. That's what all those self put downs were for. But I don't need it anymore. So why bother."

"I'm glad you found yourself, man. The confident you is way better than that combo of asshole and insecure geek." Andre said. "What do you think about them?" he pointed at the couple, still dancing to the romantic music playing in the background.

"A good CD I planted, right?" Robbie smirked. Andre laughed and nodded.

"Nicely done, Rob."

"What I think about them? They weren't the dream couple for all this years without a reason. They are going to make it. 6 months won't split them apart."

"I agree. I can't remember when I saw them this happy before. Those two won't get separated again." Andre agreed.

Tori and Cat were sitting on the kitchen table, looking over at Beck and Jade. Tori couldn't help herself but smile at the view. They really were happy. The same couldn't be said about the redhead that was sitting next to her.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Tori asked softly, snapping Cat out of her thoughts. Cat looked at the younger Vega and nodded weakly.

"I… I feel bad." Cat simply said.

"Why?"

"I should be happy for Jade. And I really am. But I don't want her to leave. I'm scared that she and I won't be friends when she comes back. I'm going to miss her "

"But why do you think that? There is no reason."

"I don't know. I'm just pessimistic about those things. I've lost many close friends before I met her. I'm just scared of loosing her, too." Cat explained, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Look. I am going to miss her too. We all are. But she is not going to forget any of us. And especially not you Cat. I understand you had bad experiences in the past. We all have. But let's give her the benefit of the doubt." Tori said as she looked from Cat over to the kissing couple. They really were enjoying the moment. The view made even Cat smile up again.

"You are right. But I'm still going to miss her." Cat said. Tori put an arm around Cat's shoulders.

"You still have us. We are going to make it. Don't worry." Tori reassured her. The conversation was interrupted by a certain Goth girl that walked over to them.

"Hey, is everything okay?" she asked, looking a bit concerned. Tori looked down at Cat, who smiled a bit and nodded. Jade's expression lit up.

"I'm not leaving for a few days, so how about tomorrow the three of us spend some time together? We'll come up with something. What do you say?" Jade asked.

"I'm game." Tori answered.

"I would love to." Cat said. Jade grabbed both girls' wrists.

"Come on, everyone is dancing. Join us." She said as she pulled them towards the guys.

They continued the not so surprise party until 3 am. Jade didn't want it to end. She was surrounded by the people she loved. She enjoyed every second of it. She would call Jacob later, telling him that she is going to take the Job. But until she leaves, she is going to spend every free minute with her friends and her boyfriend. And she is going to enjoy every moment.


	4. Arrival

The last few days in Hollywood passed in a heartbeat. Jade was in the airport, her plane leaving in an hour. She was nervous. She didn't want to leave. Beck noticed. He hugged her from behind and placed soft kisses on her cheek and neck.

"Relax. Everything is going to be fine." He whispered. He felt her loosen up a bit in his arms. She turned around in them to hug him and kiss him. She wanted to remember that taste. She wouldn't be able to taste him for so long. She wouldn't be able to fall asleep in his arms. She wouldn't be able to see his face every morning. All those things she had lost before, and now it would be taken away from her again.

"I don't want to leave." She told him, her voice barely stronger than a whisper. He tightened his grip around her.

"6 months. Not a single day more." He told her, looking her right in the eyes.

"I… I can't. Not again."

"Yes, you can. I'll wait for you. Don't worry. We survived worse things. And this is for you. This is a good thing. You'll see."

The others arrived barely a minute later. The emotions were at conflict with each one of them. The loving part that wants their friend to succeed was at war with the selfish part that wanted her to stay with them. The result of the conflict was different with each one of them.

As they said goodbye to her, Jade watched her friend's expressions. Tori was smiling, but the smile wasn't the usual happy one. It was the type of smile you have when you finally accept something you don't like. The "okay, so be it" smile you give when you make a sacrifice. Andre didn't smile at all. His expression was stoic. He hated the idea that he wouldn't see one of his closest friends for so long. But he wouldn't say it out loud. It was hard enough for everyone, especially Jade. She didn't need any more pressure about this. Robbie had a secure smile. He was the only one who believed that everything would end up being better than ever. He knew his friends. He knew who would have the most trouble. He knew that it would be hard.

"You'll see. When you come back, you will be happy that you listened to us." He told his friend since pre-school as he gave her a hug.

The last one left was Cat. She had a hard time keeping it together. A tear or two would escape her resistance every now and then. She had a bag in her hands. Cat approached Jade and handed it to her.

"For you." She sad with a genuine smile, which was contrasted even more trough the tears running down her face. Jade looked inside. It was a photo album. She glanced trough the pages. It was full of pictures taken during the key moments of their lives. The cover photo of the album was taken only a few days ago. It was at the party they had at Tori's place. Jade watched the group photo they've taken. They were all happy that moment. Jade wanted that moment to last forever. And now, in some way, Cat made it last forever for her.

The now crying Jade looked up from the album to her best friend. She wrapped her arms around Cat and both began to cry softly. The others choked up themselves, but kept themselves from bursting out in tears. If anyone else did it, Jade would stay. And that wouldn't be right. It would be selfish.

After a few minutes, the two friends pulled apart. Jade heard the announcement. She had to go. She took a last look at her friends and boyfriend. She took one more look at her best friend, who was crying. Tori had her hands on Cat's shoulders. She gave Jade a nod. She would make sure Cat was okay trough this. Jade turned around and left. She got into the plane and found her seat. Jacob didn't joke around. It was first class. The seats were comfortable, but it was still a seven hours flight ahead of her. She took out her Ipod and earphones. She would listen to some music. Maybe fall asleep a bit. She asked the stewardess for a pillow and a blanket. She leaned on the wall and looked trough the window as the plane slowly rose from the ground. With some calming music playing, she fell asleep.

She woke up a few hours later, her neck stiff from falling asleep in the plane. She looked at the watch. She would arrive soon. After another hour, the plane landed. She got her luggage and went outside. She looked around, scanning her environment for her ride. Then she felt someone pat her on the shoulder.

"Jade?" she heard a familiar voice. She turned around to find Jacob standing behind her.  
"Hey. I was already afraid you guys forgot about me." She said to the taller man.

"Don't worry, during my project, everything is taken care of. Come on, there is my car." he motioned towards the white Mercedes. She got in the passengers seat.

"How was the flight?" he asked after a moment of silence.

"It was okay. I've never traveled first class before. But my neck is stiff from falling asleep."

"Yeah, that happens to me too. Listen, I tried to find you a hotel close to the place we are shooting, but they were all already booked. So I found an apartment a block away from it. I hope its okay."

"Of course. I don't like hotels that much anyway. Brings back some memories." She said remembering their stay in Yerba.

"Bad memories?" Jacob looked at her, raising an eyebrow.

"Let's just say, Yerba is a screwed up place." She simply stated. He shrugged it off.

"When does work start?" she finally asked him. She didn't know much anything about the schedule.

"Tomorrow. We will start the shoots around 11 am, so everyone should get enough sleep. I can't tell you how many days a week you are going to work. It all depends if we can keep the schedule. It does happen that you won't even have a week off in those 6 months." He explained honestly.

"I understand. I did somewhat expect a situation like this. I just hope I'll catch the drift to directing."

"Don't worry. As long as you know what exactly you want, there shouldn't be any problems. Just get your idea on camera the way you want."

"You seem calm about this. What if I fail?" she asked him, genuine concern in her voice. She was nervous. She directed smaller theatric plays, but never a full fledged big production movie.

"You will find many obstacles during work. Equipment won't work. The special effect will fail. Actors will have a bad day and forget their lines. A whole week could get wasted on shooting a single scene. You are finally done and happy with your movie, and then the MPAA tells you to cut some content. The critics rip the movie apart for stupid reasons. I've seen them all. Some movies succeed, others don't. It doesn't matter. Paramount had great success until now. We produced some failures too." He calmly said and looked over at her.

"And every producer screws up once. So don't be nervous, but do the best you can. I believe you will do a great job." He encouraged.

"You really think that?"

"Not only me. My higher ups agreed with me. And I told you; right now we are looking for the younger talent to do these things. The older "horrormaisters" seem to loose the grip, while way too many go for the simple blood and gore in this genre. You went a different route, story and atmosphere, and we liked it. That's all." He said as he stopped the car in front of a tall building. "We're here." He said as they got out. Jade took her luggage and they walked into the elevator. On the 8th floor, Jacob unlocked one of the apartments and motioned Jade to go in.

Jade stood there, a smile appearing on her face right away. She had a great view over the beautiful beach. A big flat screen TV hanging on the wall of a comfortable living room. The bathroom had both a shower and a hot tub, and the king sized bed in her bedroom was the icing on the cake.

"You like it?" he asked with a smirk.

"I love it! How much does this cost?" she yelled from her bedroom, sitting on the bed.

"Not your worry." He said as he put down his suitcase on the table and took out a few things.

"This is your business phone. You have my number in there, so if you need anything give me a call. And yes, you can do private calls on that too. The money for your script is on your account. You will get your salary every fifth of the month. The studio is down the street on the right. Trust me, you can't miss it. They made sure to have a big Paramount sign on it. So, if you don't have any questions, I have to leave. I've got a date." He said with a smirk.

"No, I got everything. Thank you again. And good luck on your date." She said.

"Thank you. See you tomorrow." He said and left.

She walked a bit around the apartment. She could get used to it. She turned on the big TV in the living room. She even had a bit smaller one in her bedroom. She laid down on the king size bed. It was so comfortable, especially after a 7 hour flight. Beck would have loved it. Beck. Sadness overcame her at the memory of her boyfriend. He would have loved it here. She wished he could be here. She already missed him. She missed her friends. And she wasn't even here for an hour.

Jade got up of the bed and sighed. Time would fly once she began work tomorrow. She walked over to the table and took the phone Jacob gave her. "_And yes, you can do private calls with that too."_ She remembered. And if she could, she damn sure would. She typed in a familiar number.

"Yes?" a familiar voice picked up.

"Guess who just arrived at a big apartment with a flat screen TV, king sized bed and a hot-tub?" she teased, a small smirk appearing on her face.

"Oh, is that how famous producers from Hollywood live now Miss West? It must be though." Beck joked. "How was the flight?"

"It was okay. Fell asleep for a while and now I have a stiff neck. But a bath will fix that." She said and then sighed. "I miss you. I wish you could be here. You would love this place."

"Oh I'm sure I would, especially the hot tub." He joked, making her laugh.

"Jerk. I really mean it." She said, her voice turning sadder. She heard him sigh on the other line.

"I miss you too. But don't worry; 6 months will pass really quickly, especially since you are going to have fun at directing your own movie."

"I'm nervous. What if I fail? What if I screw up this project? Maybe coming here was a mistake. I could have simply sold the script. I would have probably gotten a chance to direct later, after college maybe."

"Jade, you won't fail. You've been waiting for this for so long. During every movie we watched, you would always explain to me what which director did. What techniques he used. Why something worked. Why it didn't work. You know so much already. I know you won't fail. We all here believe in you. So get your self confidence up and make us proud." He said.

"I love you." She told him, happy that everyone had so much confidence in her. She always had self doubts, and this really meant the world to her.

"I love you too. What are you going to do now?"

"I'm going to relax. Take a bath and go to sleep. Work starts tomorrow. What about you?"

"I'm going to the movies with the others. I'll let them now that you arrived and are okay."

"Tell them I miss them and that I'll call them soon."

"Will do. I'll call you tomorrow; I got to pick up the others. Have fun at work. Love you."

"Thanks. I love you too." She said and hung up. She took a long bath and laid down on the bed. She turned on the TV and searched the channels. She found the horror channel. 24/7 horror movies and documentaries. She placed the remote on the small table next to her bed and set her alarm clock. She relaxed and watched some of the other movies, looking for ideas. She fell asleep shortly after.


	5. First day

Everyone woke up that morning with a certain feeling of emptiness. Jade woke up in a new environment she still was not used to. After a few moments, she remembered where she was. It was her first day of work. She would go to the Paramount studio and meet everyone. She would supervise a probable multimillion dollars project which was about an idea of hers. And with that in mind, she wanted to be prepared.

She got dressed and took a few things with her. She remembered seeing a café a few buildings away. She went to that café and sat down on one of the tables. The café was rather empty as most people were working already. After ordering a big cup of coffee, she took out the script, a pen and a few empty sheets of paper. She slowly read some parts again, making notes she wanted to remember and emphasize. She didn't exactly know what she would do today, but she had an idea. It would either be meeting the casting director or the crew responsible for the props. Jacob would probably be there too, making sure everything goes right. After writing out three sheets of paper, she glanced at her phone. 9:40 am. She left the money on the table, collected her things and made her way towards the studio.

Beck woke up, noticing someone missing that morning. Someone he grew accustomed to again. It would be tough not seeing her every morning. He enjoyed waking up a few minutes before her. He would watch her as she sleeps. She always looked peaceful. Calm. Beautiful. He smiled at the memories. She would be back. And when she does, he would appreciate those moments even more. He would enjoy her presence even more. He got up and put some clothes on. He ran his hand trough his hair as he sighed. He missed her, and there was nothing he could do about it. He walked over to his car. He wondered how the others were doing.

Cat didn't have much sleep. She tried to escape into her world again: A world where everything was fine, without problems, peaceful; a world where her best friend was with her. She felt her heart ache. She wouldn't see her today. They wouldn't talk about random things. She wouldn't hear any of Jade's sarcastic remarks. She wouldn't sit with them during lunch. All those moments that became natural to everyone. She felt the urge to cry. But she wouldn't. It wouldn't be fair towards Jade. Jade had always been there for her. Jade had always listened to her when she was sad. She always protected her when someone was mean towards her. As much as it hurt, she would be happy for her best friend.

Tori was taking her books out of her locker. She looked over at the locker across the hall, filled with scissors of different colors. She sighed at the realization for a certain amount of time, the owner of that locker would not be there. Tori watched as her friends approached. She saw that they missed her too. Andres' patented smile was replaced by a small frown. Robbie's' expression was completely neutral. Becks' usually stoic expression was replaced with an empty stare. But none of them could match the change that occurred with Cat. Her usual, happy go lucky, personality and her wide smile were gone, replaced by a frown and eyes filled with sadness.

"Ready to go to class?" Andre asked in a lifeless voice. The others nodded and went towards the classroom. Tori turned around and stopped Robbie for a moment. She never expected this to occur, but the former geek was now probably the one who is dealing the best with this situation.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" Tori asked, not caring if she would be late.

"What is it?" Robbie asked, surprised.

"I need your advice. About this situation. I… I don't know if I'm exaggerating things, but I'm worried about the others, especially Cat." Tori admitted. Robbie's expression changed from curiosity to a sympathetic smile.

"We all miss her. It's simply that each one of us deals with it differently. But you are right about Cat. It does seem to affect her the most. But that's normal. She and Jade have been best friends since I met them, and I'm talking Pre School here. It's too early to skip to any conclusions." Robbie securely said. Tori sighed, but she knew he was right.

"You are right. Come on, let's get to class." She said and they took of. Robbie watched the younger Vega as they walked. He knew that this wouldn't be easy. They were a small group in which everyone had always relied on everyone. The worst thing that could happen is if everyone tried to deal with this by themselves. And he also knew that this would be a natural reaction for all of them.

Jade walked into the large building completely clueless where she had to go. She was fifteen minutes early, so she still wasn't completely stressed out. She watched around, trying to figure out where to go, when she felt someone pat her on the shoulder.

"Can I help you?" the tall, muscular man asked.

"Yes, my name is Jade West and I'm here to direct the movie "Pop goes the Weasel"." She explained, thanking god she met the security officer.

"Ah. So you are Miss West. Mr. Oswald told me about you. Follow me please." He said as he started walking towards the elevator. She followed him in. He pressed the button for the 3rd floor. Soon, they arrived and he motioned her towards room 18.

"The others should be here soon. Please wait for them inside, Miss West."

"Thank you…" she said, but stopped, not knowing his name.

"Pardon me. My name is Andrew." He said as he extended his hand.

"Thank you Andrew." She said as she shook his hand. He excused himself and went back towards his desk. She walked into the room. There was a big table with a lot of seats, a computer and a projector. But what immediately caught her eye was the coffee machine standing in the corner of the large room. She placed her stuff on the table and made herself a coffee. She sat down and took another look at her notes, but the door opened a few seconds later. Jacob came in with a mid aged, brunette woman and a older man.

"Good morning Jade." Jacob greeted her, quickly followed by the other two.

"Good morning." Jade greeted back. They all sat down on the table.

"Jade. This is Miss Holding. She is the casting director for this project. She wants to talk to you about the characters of the movie and discuss possible actors you would suggest." Jacob said motioning towards the lady sitting to his left.

"My name is Jade West." She introduced herself, getting up and extending her hand. The older woman smiled at the good manners the talented girl had shown and shook her hand.

"And this young man next to me is Jeff Nichols." Jacob said as he smirked towards the older man. "He is the leader of our building crew. He will be responsible for the building of the set and the props. You are going to tell him about your ideas and what you are going to need."

"Nice to meet you." Jade said as she shook his hand.

"Here is the plan for now. The first two weeks we Monica is going to finish with the casting of the actors. Give her your input and share your ideas with her so that she knows what she should look for. Jeff and his crew are responsible for the building of the stages and props. Tell them what you want the places to look like and if you need any special props. They are going to get them. When that is done, we are going to make a schedule for filming. I want you to decide what scenes to shoot in what order and give that to Jeff, so he knows what stages are going to be used beforehand. That is the first month. Then we can start shooting. It should take at least three months to do this. We are taking it slow, because no real project can be done well if rushed. The last two months will be used for editing, input of music and animations. Jade, throughout this whole process, you are going to observe everything and direct the traffic. I'll make sure that the budget is sufficient and not overstretched. Also, I need to warn you, we are probably going to re shoot some scenes because of the MPAA. They always find a reason to send the movie back, so don't let them discourage you." Jacob explained before taking a look at his watch.

"I have to leave you already. I hate to meet a few of the special fx guys. I'll call you later and let you know who we are considering, so you can help me choose." Jacob told her as he got up and left.

"I have to leave too. I'll be in room 22, 2nd floor when you are done here." Jeff said and left.

Jade looked over at the blonde lady who took placed her suitcase on the table and took out some files.

"I must admit, I'm thrilled to be able to work with you." The older woman said as she was searching for something in the case. "I love the script you wrote. And I think I've found some actors that match your description of the characters. So take a look and tell me what you think." She said as she handed Jade some of the files. Jade looked at the pictures first. She studied them carefully, reading the short biographies and the works they had done before, She was also thrilled that amongst them were some names she already knew and actually would have chosen herself. The two talked for an hour. Jade explained why she picked a specific actor for each character, explaining the characteristics she wanted. Miss Holding listened to her carefully and took notes. She was surprised how sure the young woman was about what she was looking for. After Jade was done, Miss Holding placed the files back.

"You are really something, aren't you young lady." She remarked out of nowhere.

"What do you mean?" Jade asked, not sure how to take that statement.

"I've seen older, more experienced people come to their first day of work completely unprepared, ready to make decisions of the cuff. And then you come in, on your first project, with a vision and a certainty of what you want. I'm positively surprised." She explained. Jade's expression lit up. This meant a lot to her. She was afraid of failing, but she actually managed to leave a good impression on the experienced woman.

"I'm going to contact the actors and continue looking for the parts you haven't found a match. I'll call you when I'm done." Miss Holding said as she took the suitcase and left the room.

Jade collected her things and made her way towards the 2nd floor. She entered room 22 and saw Jeff standing with a few of his colleagues. She walked over to him and took out the drawings she had made while writing the script. He was surprised at the details she had included. She explained how places should look like and the locations that are going to be necessary.

"I must admit, it's nice to work with someone who knows exactly what she wants." Jeff said with a smirk. He took the notes and the drawings Jade had given him and passed them on to one of his colleagues.

"We'll get to work right away. I'll let you know if I have any questions." Jeff said and walked over to his colleagues, explaining to them what they would be doing the next few weeks. Jade left the room, happy with her performance.

.


	6. Already a problem

The first month flew by in what felt to be a heartbeat. Jade had finished finalizing the script. Miss Holding and Jade finished the auditions. Jade was happy about the actors they had found. It was mostly young blood, but also had a few veterans she saw in other iconic movies. Jacob had found a great group of special effects experts who got Jade's idea immediately. And more importantly, they liked it. She had finished the shooting schedule with everyone and now they were ready to start shooting.

She and Beck talked almost every day. He was still completely supportive of her work, but he still missed her. And she missed him.

"One month is already over. Five time like this and you are home." Beck told her with fake enthusiasm. While time did fly for the young director, it seemed to become slower for her loved ones in the other side of the country.

"I know. Time really flies here. And the project is going on flawlessly. Tomorrow we finally start shooting. I'm really excited."

"Let's hope it stays flawless. You know how things can go south very quickly. Just remember the rehearsal for Well Wishes. I hope that producer won't go Miss Lee on it."

"Yeah, I remember. I hated that crazy woman. But Jacob is different. He is a fan like me, so I doubt he would do something like that. Until now, no decision was made without me."

"Then you have a worry less on your mind. Just remember, if something goes wrong, keep calm. I don't want to hear any news about a young woman murdering everyone in Paramount with a pair of scissors." He said with a small laugh.

"Don't worry, I'll keep my cool." She said with a laugh. "How are the others? I didn't have time to call them this week."

"Okay I guess. I mean, it was weird the first two weeks. It was almost like you died and we were grieving, but now it's okay. We are all proud of you."

"Thank you. You know how much that means to me." Jade said as she smiled at the compliment.

"It's the truth. Now go to sleep, you have to shoot the best movie ever tomorrow." Beck said.

"I will. I'll call you tomorrow when I'm done. Love you."

"Love you too." Beck said as he hung up. Jade placed her phone on the table and went to sleep.

The next day was proof that something always has to go wrong. They couldn't begin shooting because the actor playing "Jack" was late. After half an hour of waiting and trying to contact the man, frustration was clearly visible on everyone's faces. He finally showed up around 11:15.

"Where the hell have you been?" she shouted at the mid aged man. He only snored.

"I've had things to do, so don't yell at me, kid." He said, making Jade even angrier.

"Get into makeup and stop being a dick." She said as he brushed her off and went to makeup. Jade sat down into her chair, pinching the bridge of her nose. She knew he was a veteran actor who played in a number of movies. Some of them were amongst her favorites. But she never imagined that she would have to deal with such an egomaniac.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she saw a cup of coffee in front of her. She turned around to see Jacob holding it, visibly annoyed, but keeping his cool.

"Calm down. These things happen." He told her.

"Thank you." She said as she took the coffee and drank a bit. It immediately calmed her down.

"Some actors simply have an ego. But as long as he delivers in front of the camera, it's only a nuisance." He told her, sitting down in his own chair. After another hour of waiting and adjusting, they were ready to shoot. Jade took the microphone and looked at the monitor, following the camera and ready to give instructions.

_A woman was reading in the living room when she heard a sound. After looking around the house, she noticed then that the back door was forcefully opened, the lock broken. She dialed the police and ran outside to wait for them. After two minutes, a police car came and the two policemen went in to investigate, the young woman standing outside. One of the policemen went upstairs and checked the rooms. In one of the rooms, he saw something and went inside. Behind him a silhouette was seen moving. _

"Cut. Camera, move downstairs to the other two." Jade instructed.

_The other policeman went outside to talk to the woman. _

"_There is no one in the house lady." He told her as he walked outside. "Mike, where are you?" he said into his walkie-talkie. He got no response. "Mike?" he called again. No answer. "Miss, stay here." He told her and took his gun. He walked inside again, carefully walking towards the stairs. He made his way upstairs, carefully checking every room again. In the last room, he saw a Jack in the box toy on the bed. He carefully checked the room. No one was there. He placed back his gun and took the toy. He began spinning it. The toy began to sing. _

_Jimmy's got the whooping cough_

_And Timmy's got the measles_

_That's the way the story goes_

_Pop! goes the weasel._

_As the song finished the silhouette appeared again behind him. _

"Cut. Perfect. Now camera back to the lady."

_The woman went back inside after a few minutes. "Hello?" she called, waiting for a response. She went upstairs and saw the room to her bedroom open. She walked towards it and peeked inside. Her face got filled with shock. The two policemen were lying in her bed, both horribly mutilated. The silhouette appeared behind her. She turned around and faced the killer. He wore a black overall and a cheap clown mask. She screamed as the killer stabbed her, grunting and yelling."_

"Cut." Jade yelled. "Adam, why did you grunt? I told you to stay silent." Jade asked the man she didn't like since the first moment.

"Why wouldn't I grunt?" he asked as he took of the mask. He was annoyed by the younger girl telling him how to act.

"Because, the killer is not supposed to be human like. He is supposed to be like Michael Myers or Jason: Silent, A boogeyman, an enigma; not a crazy type killer. Not human. It's way more effective that way as it dwells into the childhood fears. That is why I picked the clown mask for him. It's simple and yet it freaks you out. " She calmly explained the man. "Now let's do that last part again. Without grunting please." She said as she sat down. He rolled his eyes and walked back.

Adam either did not understand what Jade was telling him, or he was deliberately doing this to piss her off. The next 10 takes were the same, and the constant screaming the actress had to do took its' toll on her voice.

"Cut!" Jade screamed again, jumping out of her chair and pacing in frustration. "Take 10, everyone. Adam, I need to talk to you." She told the man. He walked towards her.

"What is it now?" he asked, completely annoyed.

"Why won't you listen to me? We wasted 10 shots now because you had to either grunt of yell or something."

"That's how I see the character." He simply stated, not even looking at her. Now she was pissed.

"But that's not how the character is supposed to be! How often do I have to explain this to you?" she asked; frustration clearly recognizable in her voice.

"Look kid. Don't tell me how I should do my job. I've been in many of these types of movies and I've played this type of character many times before. So let me do my job and shut up." He told her as he turned around to leave.

"You stay right here! I don't care in how many movies you were. This character is supposed to be different from the others. Didn't you read the script?" she asked him, but judging by his reactions, he didn't even take a glance.

"No. And why does it matter?"

"Because, then you would have understood the character and why he has to be played the way I'm telling you to." She told him. He simply waved her off. She threw her arms up in defeat. The man wouldn't listen.

"What's the problem?" Jacob walked to them, having heard part of the conversation and hoping he heard it wrong.

"What's wrong is that Adam here didn't even read the script and refuses to play his character the way he is supposed too." Jade explained to the producer. He looked over at the actor.

"Why aren't you listening to her?"

"Why would I let a brat like her tell me what to do?" he told him nonchalantly. "Why did you even hire her, Oswald?"

"It's Mister Oswald to you, Adam. And I hired her because she did an amazing job with the script. But how could you know, you didn't even read it to understand. So if you are going to act like a douche bag, be late, hold up the whole project, waste shots and insult the director of my choice, insulting me with this and my judgment, my knowledge and my credibility within and of this business and movie genre, you can get out of the costume and get the fuck out of here. You are fired!" Jacob told the man and pointed to the door. Adam stood there, shocked.

"Pff." He spat. "Screw this. This movie is going to be a failure anyway. Especially with this brat as the director." He said and stormed off.

Jacob and Jade were standing outside of the building now. Jade was frustrated while Jacob lit a cigar.

"I'm sorry." Jade said out of sudden, breaking the silence.

"Why are you sorry?" Jacob asked her, surprised.

"We've just lost the main character. And now we have to recast." She sighed, massaging her temples with her hand. "I should have given in. It would have been okay."

"And then what? If you are going to give in to everyone, you have the wrong job." Jacob answered. "The director is the last man standing. You direct the traffic. You are in charge. If something doesn't look the way you want it to, you make it look that way." He told her as he patted her back. "And honestly, that man was an idiot." She smiled at his words. He still had complete trust in her. "You've been doing a great job since you came here. Don't let a small setback discourage you."

"Thanks. But we still need to find someone to play Jack." Jade said.

"Hey, you guys alright?" they turned to face Andrew. Jade and Jacob, looked at him, back at each other and back at him with a smile.

"Guys, I've never been in a movie. I have never done any type of acting in my life." Andrew told them while he was in full costume. The tall and muscular man was even more imposing in the costume and added the element of unstoppable force of nature to the character.

"Just give it a try. What is there to loose?" Jade told him as she gently pushed him towards the set. And they found a diamond. They redid the whole scene with him and got it in one shot.

"And cut!" she yelled with a smile on her face. The first scene of the movie was done, and Jade was happy with it.  
"Andrew! You are a natural!" she told him as he walked back to her.

"Thanks. I feel weird while wearing this. Something changes when I put on this mask."

"It's because you get the character. Andrew, I want you to play the killer." Jade told him.

"Uhm…" he mumbled, looking over at Jacob.

"I agree with her. You did a fantastic job. Come on, actors are better paid than security guards" he joked.

"Alright." Andrew finally agreed shaking both Jacob's and Jade's hands.

"One problem less." Jade thought.


	7. No, no, no, NO!

Time really did fly while she was working. And right now, she wished it would slow down for a damn minute. It was the tenth week of shooting. They have done a lot of work. She managed to keep the schedule. But right now, she wanted to stab the whole project with a pair of scissors.

Jade watched as the special effects crew tried to fix as much as possible. They were shooting the scene that would be the finale, the only scene where special effects and heavy prosthetics were necessary. Andrew was wearing a cask which was to slowly melt down of him while he chased the heroine, showing the slow decay of the monster. But it simply wouldn't work. Either it didn't melt at all. Or it melted to fast. At one point it even caught on fire. She was sitting in her chair, biting her fingernails. The prosthetics needed weeks to be done. If they had to start making it from the scratch again, it would put them way behind the schedule. She glanced over at Jacob, who lit a cigar and talked to someone on the phone. He was nervous himself. After two hours of wasted attempts and shots, Jeff came over to them.

"I'm sorry guys, but we need to make it from the scratch." Jeff sighed. "It simply doesn't want to work."

Jade sighed while she wanted to scream. Everything went perfectly until now. Half of the movie was already shot. They would shoot the other scenes. That wasn't the problem. The problem was that the last ten minutes of the movie are extremely complicated and would take a week to shoot. And now they had to wait maybe a month so that they could try it again.

"Well, shit." Andrew said as he walked over and ripped the prosthetic piece of his chest and the mask of his face.

"Something had to happen. It always does." Jacob said as he ended the phone conversation he had.

"I'm sorry. I overdid it with the final scene." Jade said, her face buried in her hands. "I can rewrite it if necessary."

"If you do that we can throw the movie in the trash." Jacob told her in a calm voice. He felt sorry for her. Her first project was in danger. And it wasn't her fault. Things like that happen, but there was no use telling her. "The whole movie is a giant buildup to the last ten minutes which are the payoff. Without the payoff, the whole thing makes no sense." Jacob explained.

"Yeah, there is nothing worse than a bad finish. No matter where. If you don't tie up the loose ends, you give the audience the feeling that you wasted their time." Andrew said.

"Exactly. So we are simply going to shoot the other scenes, wait for the special effects to be done and work overtime for a few days. We'll make it." Jacob said looking at Jade. She leaned back in her chair and let out a heavy sigh again.

"I'm sorry guys. I'm just… I need some sleep. I'll see you tomorrow." She said as she got up and left.

"The worst thing is, she has done a great job since day one and still something had to happen." Jacob told the taller man as they watched her leave.

"But this isn't her fault."

"I know. Nobody is saying that."

"Well, somebody should tell her that." Andrew said as he walked to the dressing room to change. Jacob sighed and went outside to his car.

Jade opened the door of her apartment and slammed it shut as she entered. It was her time of the month and now this. The whole project is in jeopardy because she had to overdo the ending. She was overstressed.

"Something had to fucking happen, didn't it." She shouted, simply needing to let it out. She plumbed down into the couch and closed her eyes. Why did this need to happen?

Her thoughts were interrupted by her phone ringing. She groaned as she reached for it and answered.

"What?" she yelled, not caring how loud she was.

"Hey. It's me. You didn't call for two weeks and I wanted to hear how you are." Jade calmed down a bit when she recognized the voice of her best friend.

"Uh. Hi Cat. Now is not really the best time to talk. I'm under a lot of stress now."

"Huh? Did something happen?"

"No. I'm just mad because I feel like being it!" Jade said sarcastically.

"Why are you mad?" Cat asked, concern filling her usually happy voice.

"I'm mad because today something was wrong with the special effects and the movie is going to fall behind schedule."

"Oh. I'm sorry. What happened?"

"What happened is that I had to overdo it with the fucking ending and because of that, the effects failed and we have to wait for weeks until they make new ones. And since I only have two more weeks of shooting left, I could have been done if I had simply kept it simple. But no! I had to make it something else. I had to make it special. And now, when this fails, everyone is going to blame me. And I can kiss my dream of being a successful director goodbye! " She grunted, her anger boiling up again as she explained the situation.

"Jadey, there is nothing you can do. It's not your fault. If anyone, the special effects crew didn't do it right. I mean…"

"No. It's not that easy Cat! This is my project. My responsibility! This isn't some theatre or school project that everyone is going to forget in days. No, this is a full fledged Hollywood production which is now in jeopardy because of me!" she said louder than she was aware.

"Look, calm down. There is no use to…"

"Calm down? Calm down?" Jade cut her off, the anger overtaking her. "Do you know how much this means to me? Do you know how much work I put into this the past three and a half months? Do you realize that it all might have been for nothing? So don't tell me to calm down, when you have no idea what is happening here. I don't have the time or the nerves for any of your stupid advices!" Jade yelled. Realization hit her when she heard her best friend sob on the other line.

"I… I'm sorry. I won't bo… bother you anymore." Cat said trough her sobs as she hung up. Jade watched her phone in horror.

"No. No, no, no, no, no, no. NO!" she said as she hurried to call her back. No response. Cat turned her phone off. What had she done? She felt hot tears form themselves. Jade tried to call again. And again. And again. But the result was the same. She brought a hand trough her hair as she tried to call again, her vision blurry from the tears.

"Cat, answer me, please!" she yelled into the empty line, hoping that somehow Cat would hear her. She let her phone fall to the ground as she dropped her head and let her tears fall down. She completely forgot about the movie. About the schedule. About everything. The only thing on her mind right now is how she yelled at the most important person in her life for absolutely no reason. Cat only wanted to calm her down. Cat only wanted to talk to her best friend as she always loved to do. Images of Cat crying in her room went trough Jade's mind quicker than anyone could imagine. As intelligent as Cat was, she was still a very sensitive, emotional person. She knew that Cat would take even the slightest insult from anyone and think keep thinking about it. She knew that she might have hurt her best friend right now worse than anyone ever did.

She searched for her phone, finally grabbing it after a few moments. She tried to call again. No. No use. There was no voicemail she could talk in. There was no use sending messages. She needed to do something. She scrolled trough her contacts, finally stopping on a name. She called that number. After a few rings, she heard them pick up.

"Hello?"

"Tori, it's me." Jade said trough her sobs.

"Jade? Are you crying? What happened?" Tori asked, concerned.

"I… I had an awful day. The movie is going to be behind schedule so I came home completely frustrated and angry. Cat called me and I told her about it. She tried to calm me down, but I let my frustrations out on her and now I can't reach her to apologize because she turned her phone off and I'm crying and I don't know what to do!" she cried out, loosing it in the end. She was openly sobbing now.

"Jade, please calm down. You were frustrated. You didn't do it on purpose."

"But I did it! I yelled at her! She only wanted to help me and I was so mean to her. What does it matter if it was on purpose or not? You know how sensitive she is. I heard her how she began to cry. I know she is crying now. I just hurt my best friend for no reason! She is now upset because she only wanted to talk to me. I hadn't even called her in the past two weeks at all. I know how she is. She only wanted to talk to me. She only wanted to hear my voice." Jade said, crying herself.

"Jade, get a grip for a moment and listen to me!" Tori told her in a serious voice. She understood Jade's fear right now. Cat always took things personally, but her close friends were another dimension for her. Tori remembered when she kissed Cat's boyfriend and Cat caught them. Cat told her later how she was crying the whole time not because of Danny, but because Tori did it to her. Cat cared about all her friends. Cat would open up to all her friends. And when one of them hurts her, especially Jade, she looses herself. "I'm going to Cat's place now and calm her down. I'll tell her what you told me. I'll tell her that you are sorry. I won't leave her alone, don't worry. You calm down and focus on your work. I'll call you tomorrow."

"O..okay. Thank you Tori."

"No problem. Everything is going to be okay. Keep it together and call me if you need to talk. Promise me that."

"I… I promise. Please, tell Cat I'm sorry."

"I will. It's going to be okay. You know that she loves you more than anything. It's not the end of your friendship, Jade. You know that."

"I really hope you are right. This is what she told me that day: on the party. She was afraid she would loose me as a friend. She must think that just happened." Jade said as she began to sob again.

"And I'm going to convince her that she is wrong. Jade, trust me, I'll make sure she is okay. You know you can rely on me." Tori said trying to calm her down. It worked.

"Thank you. You really are an angel." Jade said and sighed. "I miss you."

"Just don't loose it there, and do your work. I miss you too. We all do. You go and finish this movie, and then come back to us. I've got to go now. I'll call you tomorrow. Bye."

"Bye." Jade said as she heard Tori hang up. Again, Tori was the one who would right one of Jade's wrongs. Who would make sure Jade didn't screw it up completely. She loved her for that. Jade hoped that Tori would be successful as always in that task, especially this time. She went to bed after taking a shower, crying herself to sleep out of guilt.


	8. Knock

The atmosphere in the studio was relaxing compared to yesterday. Jacob was still worried. He watched as Jade sat in her chair, barely paying attention to what was happening on the monitor. She wasn't focused as she always had been. The scene would be done and she would yell "cut" half a minute after that. It wasn't that it hurt the scenes. What they were doing now was only the dialogues, which she had written and explained in her script to the last detail.

"Okay everyone, let's take a break. It's lunchtime." Jacob told them. Jade continued sitting in her chair. Her mind was somewhere completely else. She looked as if she would begin to cry every moment.

"Is she still upset about yesterday?" Andrew walked over to Jacob.

"I have no idea what's wrong. The first thing I told her this morning is that I talked to my boss and that we would get as much time as we need. That he wasn't even angry. He understood the situation and he thinks that Jade is doing a great job. I told her all that the moment she walked in this morning." Jacob explained; frustration and concern filling his voice. Andrew shook his head and walked over to the young Goth. The tall man stood in front of her. She didn't even glance at him. She didn't even acknowledge his presence.

"Miss West, what's wrong?" he crouched down so he would meet her gaze. She looked at him. He was a nice guy, and was genuinely concerned about her.

"Personal problems." She told him and looked over at Jacob. "I'm sorry. I don't feel well. Just… tell the others to follow the script." She said as she got up and left. Andrew and Jacob shared a defeated look. This wasn't about the movie right now. A colleague they both respected and grew fond off was seemingly going trough hell.

"Can we do the scenes without her?" Andrew asked the producer.

"Yeah, that's not the problem. She explained everything in such details that no actor could go wrong." Jacob answered, sighing at the end. "Let's go tell the others that we'll finish the dialogues today and take the rest of the week off."

"That's a good idea. Let's hope Miss West gets better by then." Andrew said as both men walked towards the dinner the crew were eating in.

Jade was sitting in the café she had gone to every morning since she came to Florida. Staring out of the window, she couldn't stop herself from remembering what she had done yesterday. She couldn't wait for Tori to call her. She wanted to know how Cat was. She wanted to get on the first plane back to Hollywood, go to Cat's house, break in if necessary and apologize to her. She wanted to talk to her. She wanted to see Beck again. She wanted to write songs with Andre again. She wanted to talk to Robbie about random things. She wanted to thank Tori for helping her again. She wanted to hug each one of them. Jade felt tears slowly sliding down her cheeks.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she noticed someone sitting down on the chair across of her.

"Jade, what's going on?" Jacob asked her, turning to the waitress and telling his order.

"I… had a fight yesterday with my best friend." Jade said without looking back at the producer.

"Can I know what it was about?"

"I… I was simply frustrated about the movie and everything. I was under so much stress and when she called she tried to calm me down. And all I did was scream at her and tell her to stop with her stupid attempts."

"Oh." Now it made sense to him. Jade talked about her friends all the time so Jacob had a good idea about everyone. And judging from what Jade had told him, he concluded she must be talking about Cat.

"I tried to call her again, but she had turned her phone off. I called Tori and she went to talk to her. Now, I'm simply waiting for her to call me back." Jade sighed, wiping away her tears.

"Well, if that's the problem, how about you go talk to her yourself?" Jacob asked, a small smirk forming on his lips. Jade finally looked at him, furring her brows in confusion. He took something out of his pocket and placed it on the table, pushing it in front of her and leaning back on his chair, seemingly happy with himself. She looked at the plane ticked in front of her and then back up at him, shock written all over her face.

"I want you to go home, see your friends, deal with everything, and then come back."

"But, the movie? I…"

"I gave everyone the rest of the week off. And since its Monday noon now, you have quite some time to spend at home." He said as he got up. "Come on, go pack your things. Your flight is in two hours." Jade got up and hugged him.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!"

"Don't mention it." He said as he paid the check and got to his car. He waited for her and after 20 minutes, she came rushing down with her bag. They got in the car and went of to the airport.

"How did you know?" Jade asked him, finally the thought coming up in her mind.

"I didn't. Andrew thought that you were only homesick. And since that made sense to me, I got you the ticked and came to the café you always hang out in. And I thought since the studio gave us enough time to finish the movie the way you wanted to, I decided to give everyone, including myself, the week off. We deserve it." He explained. Jade only smiled.

"I'm glad that not every Hollywood producer is an asshole as everyone always makes them up to be."

"Well, many are. I'm simply still too young to be bitter and cold. But give it time and I'll become that, don't worry." He joked as he parked his car and they went out. As they waited for her flight, she took out her phone.

"Hey? What's up?" Beck answered in his typical manner.

"Hey, what are you doing?" she asked him, happy to hear his voice.

"On my way to class. Aren't you working?"

"Can you come and pick me up today at the airport. My plane lands around 9." She told him.

"You're coming home?" he asked, shock mixing with happiness at that thought.

"Mhm. I got the week off. I'll explain everything to you tonight."

"Oh, thank you God! I'll pick you up!" she chuckled at his childish excitement.  
"Have you seen Cat?" she asked him, her smile fading now.

"I did." He answered, the excitement fading from his voice. "Tori told me what happened. It'll be okay. I know you were under a lot of stress."

"How is she?"

"She… she's hasn't really said a word the whole day. She is simply upset, but you know her. When you come home, you can go talk to her."

"What if she doesn't want to talk to me?"

"Then hell is really going to freeze over." He joked, trying to calm her down.

"Jerk." She chuckled. "I have to go now. See you tonight."

"See you. Love you." He said as he hung up. He couldn't keep the smirk off his face, but he wouldn't tell the others. It would be way more fun to see their faces when they see her next day.

The seven hours of flying didn't go by without Jade going trough every possible scenario. How would Cat react? Would she want to talk to Jade? Would she simply ignore her? What if Jade really did it this time and Cat hated her now? What if Cat simply ignored it and understood? No, that one wasn't possible. Not with Cat. Jade took her laptop out and updated the new schedule. She looked at the extra time they got and made more than enough room for the final and most complicated scene. She was also happy to read the email from Jeff. They realized what was wrong in the first place and fixed it. They also made more prosthetics this time so they have enough reserves.

Jade spent the last two hours of the flight picking songs and musical tracks for certain scenes. She understood that music and sound could make or break a film, and she knew exactly which pieces she wanted for what part. She sent that list to the sound guys, who would find the tracks and tell her what they thought.

The plane finally landed in Hollywood. Jade got her luggage and walked outside. Her pace quickened as she saw Beck leaning on his car, looking around for her. He began walking her way, hugging her when she finally got to him. He picked her up and spun her around a few times before placing her back down and kissing her for dear life. After a minute, he pulled away and looked at her emerald green eyes.

"God, how I missed you." He said as he hugged her again.

"I missed you too." She told him and hugged him back. They placed her things in his car and drove of to his RV.

"Does anyone else know you are here?" Beck asked, turning his head to look at her. After a hundred and two days, he had a hard time of not looking at her.

"No. I didn't tell anyone. I found out today myself."

"How come you got the week off? I thought you fell behind schedule."

"We did. That was why I was so angry about. And then I yelled at Cat…" she said, her expression changing to a sad one again. "Jacob and Andrew saw that I was sad. They thought I was simply homesick, and since the studio gave us more time to finish the movie, Jacob gave us the rest of the week off. He came over to the café I'm always in and simply gave me the ticked."

"Wow, a Hollywood producer that isn't an idiot. How lucky are you?" Beck joked, happy that project wasn't in jeopardy after all.

"I know. Everyone is great to me there. I really am lucky." She said as Beck pulled into his driveway. He took her luggage and carried it into his RV while Jade walked in before him and dropped herself onto his bed.

"It's not a king sized bed in Florida, but I know you like it." He said with a smirk as he lied down next to her. She leaned her head onto his chest and cuddled closer to him, enjoying the moment as he placed his arm around her and pulled her closer. They lied there like this for a while, before Jade spoke up.

"I need to see Cat."

"I'll drive you there." Beck said without hesitation.

"What if she doesn't want to talk to me?" Jade asked, looking at Beck with concern.

"Only one way to find out." He said as he took his car keys. He drove her over to her place and stopped the car in front of Cat's house.

"When you are done, call me." He told her as she collected her thoughts and got out of the car. "Good luck." He told her before driving off.

She walked over to the door, standing there for a few minutes, collecting her courage. She was nervous. She had done this many times with Cat. Jade knew that she wasn't the greatest with people and that she treated them badly at times, but she had never done something like this. Not under those circumstances. And she was scared. She was scared that her best friend wouldn't want to talk to her.

After breathing in one more time, she knocked on the door. The moment froze when a certain redhead opened the door and saw who was standing there.


	9. Hope

„Jade?" the small redhead gasped, shocked to see the Goth standing in front of her. Jade looked at her best friend. Not two days ago Cat would have charged and hugged the life out of her. Now, she was only standing there. Her expression was a mixture of surprise and conflict. Jade saw that Cat didn't know what to say. What to do. And she couldn't blame her.

"What are you doing here?" Cat finally found her voice.

"I got the week off and decided to come home. I told you I'll come see you immediately when I get home." Jade said with a small smile, hoping that yesterday's events would be forgiven. Forgoten. Never mentioned again.

"You said a lot of things." Cat said weakly as she closed the door behind her. Jade's expression fell. It wouldn't be that easy. It never was.

"I want to talk to you. Can we go for a walk?" Jade asked, praying that she wouldn't get rejected.

"I don't know… I…"

"Cat." Jade interrupted her. "Please." She begged. Cat sighed and nodded. The two began walking just anywhere, uncomfortable silence following them everywhere for a while.

"What did you want to talk about?" Cat asked suddenly, admitting to herself that the answer was absolutely obvious.

"About what I did yesterday. I'm sorry. I didn't want to yell at you." Jade honestly apologized, turning her look towards the girl walking next to her. Cat only stared in front of her. She didn't want to meet Jade's eyes.

"But you did." Cat simply said.

"I know. And I've felt miserable since then. I tried to call you immediately after you hung up, but your phone…"

"I don't know what I have done to you to make you always act that way towards me." Cat said all of sudden, taking the Goth by surprise.

"What do you mean?" Jade asked, feeling something tighten in her chest.

"You are always so mean to me. This isn't the first time you've done something like this." Cat explained.

"Cat, you know how I am. That's just… It's my defense mechanism or something like that. I threat everyone that way." She explained, but it sounded more as a lame excuse to her. "When you called yesterday, I was under so much stress. That day nothing went right. I've spent 9 hours in the studio watching everything fail again and again. Then I was told that it would throw us immensely behind schedule. I was scared that all the three months of work would be for nothing. That I left you guys for nothing. It was too much for me. Please understand." Jade pleaded. Cat didn't respond for a while. They stood there, Cat looking at the ground while Jade looked at her, trying to read anything off her expression.

"And if I forgive you now. Again. What then? Am I supposed to wait until you snap at me again for any reason?" Cat asked, looking Jade right in the eyes for the first time.

"Cat, I can't promise you that it won't happen again. I know I am hard to deal with. And I know that I haven't always treated you the way you deserve. But you mean so much to me. If you didn't, I wouldn't be here. The only reason I actually came back was to talk to you. To apologize. I can't explain to you how miserable I felt every time I realized that I hurt you. This morning, at work, I was just sitting there, not caring what was happening in front of me. I didn't even care enough to say cut when necessary. I was thinking about you the whole time. I was hoping that you were okay. That Tori talked to you and made sure you didn't feel bad. That she told you that I am sorry."

"She told me all that. She told me how you called her. She told me exactly what you had told her. She tried to defend you and explain why you acted that way. She told me not to take it personally. But I did. And I do take it personally Jade. You know why? Because you are like a sister to me! And I always did everything I could to help you when something happened. Whenever you came crying to my house because you had an argument with Beck or with your dad, I listened to you. I let you stay at my place as long as you wanted. I covered for you when you did something stupid. I even encouraged you to go to Florida. To take your chance. And then, after you didn't have the time or whatever to call me for two weeks, I called you. I wanted to talk to you. To hear your voice. To see how you are. And what did I get for everything I did? A simple "I don't have time for your stupid advices." from you." Cat said, tears slowly sliding down her cheeks. Jade began to cry herself. This was the first time Cat had ever said those things to her.

"Cat, I'm sorry. I had no idea that…"

"That it mattered so much to me. I get it. You didn't think it was a big deal. Nobody ever thinks that. Have you ever thought how I felt during all this? You know that I don't have many friends. For so long, you were my only friend. Then I met Andre and Robbie. And when I met Beck, I introduced him to you. You became a couple. And finally Tori came. The five of you mean the world to me. But you were always my best friend trough all this. You were the one I completely trusted. I let my guard down against you. You know how much it hurts me when people are mean to me. And you cannot imagine how much it hurts me when one of you is mean to me. And for some reason, you are the one who hurt me the most. Why? What have I ever done to you?" Cat asked, not even trying to prevent herself from crying. Jade looked at her. Her make up was a mess from the tears. Her throat was sore from the crying.

"Nothing. You have never done anything bad to me. You have always been there for me. I know that. And I appreciate it. I know I don't show it as much as I should, but to me, you are the sister I never had. You were always the rock who kept the tides from knocking me down. And I love you for that. I wish I hadn't done any of the things I did to hurt you. But I did do them, and I can't change that. I only hope you can forgive me, that you still consider me to be your friend. Your sister. You've been trough hell with me, and when the time comes, I am ready to jump into hell for you. I hope you can give me another chance." Jade said as she stepped towards Cat and wrapped her arms around the smaller girl. She placed a gentle kiss on her forehead and looked her in the eyes again.

"If you need time to think, I understand. I also understand if you don't want me in your life anymore. But I beg you. Beg. To give me another chance. I love you." She said trough her tears, not caring that she was openly weeping by now. "I'll get you home." Jade said as she took Cat's hand. They walked towards her house, not saying another word. When they finally arrived at Cat's house, Jade turned one more time towards Cat.

"I'll be here until the end of the week. If you want to talk to me, give me a call. No matter when. And thank you for everything." Jade honestly said as she gave Cat a quick hug, her hopes rising when Cat hugged her back this time.

"Kaykay." Cat weakly said giving Jade a small smile. That was everything Jade wanted now. She knew that Cat would at least think about it now. There was still hope that Cat would forgive her. And if she needed time, Jade would wait; as long as she has to.

Jade turned around and walked away, hearing Cat open the door and close it behind her. She put her hands in her pocket and began to walk towards Beck's RV. It was quite a walk, but she needed it now. She was happy Cat told her all this. She hadn't been oblivious to them, but she never gave them too much attention either. She was glad that she finally told Cat something she should have done years ago. That she finally told Cat how much she appreciated her. How grateful she was for everything. And she wouldn't keep it only with words this time. She would change her behavior towards her. She would take to heart what Cat told her. But right now, she only hoped she would get the chance to do so.

After a hour of walking, she finally stood in front of Beck's RV. She knocked on the door and stepped back. When he opened, she chuckled at the confusion on his face.

"Hey. Why didn't you call me to pick you up?" he asked, letting her inside.

"I needed the walk. I talked to Cat." She said as she sat down on the bed.

"How did it go?" Beck asked sitting next to her. He saw the tearstains.

"We simply said what had been on each of our minds for quite a while now I guess." Jade said as she lied down. Beck did so himself and put his arms around her, pulling her closer. She placed her head on his shoulder and began telling him what she and Cat talked about. He felt the tears on his shoulder. He didn't interrupt her.

"Now, I only can hope that she will give me another chance." Jade finished. Beck leaned in and gave her a soft kiss.

"She will. There is no Jade without Cat, and vice versa. Just give it time." He said as they lied back down. They fell asleep that way, in each other's arms after three and half months. Beck was enjoying every second of it, and would do so until the end of the week. Jade did too, but she also though about the others. She would have to pay a few people a visit tomorrow. But right now, she only wanted to stay in Beck's arms. She hoped that everything would be fine. Just this one time.


	10. Memories

Jade smiled as she walked into Hollywood Arts again. Nothing had changed. The atmosphere was still the same, relaxed and full of love for art.

"You missed this place, didn't you?" Beck asked with a smirk.

"You have no idea." She said as she walked over to her locked, glad that it hadn't been touched. Her smile widens when she looks to her right, noticing someone. She winks at Beck to walk over there. He takes her hand and they walk over to the half Latina, who is struggling with her locker, trying to get it open somehow.

"Hi Tori." Beck greeted.

"Hi Beck. Hi Jade." Tori greeted them, oblivious at first. It hit her then, as she snapped back at the couple, the Goth to be more precise.

"Jade!" she yelled as she crushed her in a big hug. Jade gladly hugged back, a smile spreading trough her face. "How come you are here?" Tori asked, still shocked.

"I got the week off because of everything, so I came back home. I missed you guys." Jade said honestly, making Tori smile even more.

"So you are here until the end of the week?"  
"Mhm."

"Oh my god, we have to do something special. I know! We could…"

"Jade?" she got interrupted when everyone turned around to see Andre and Robbie stand behind them, confused looks on their faces, lighting up when they realized it really was her.

"Hi guys." She said as she walked over to them and hugged them both.

"Are you done filming? Are you back for good?" Andre asked with a hopeful expression on his face. Robbie looked at her too, waiting for the answer.

"Nope. I'm here till the end of the week. Got some time off so I decided to get home." Jade explained, sighing when she saw her friends' expression sadden a bit.

"Well I guess we'll have to make this week special." Robbie said, smiling back at her. They circled around Tori's locker, asking Jade about Florida, how the movie is going and all those details. Jade updated them on everything, including her argument with Cat.

"I tried calling you yesterday, but your phone was off." Tori said.

"I was on the plane. No problem. Thank you for talking to her." Jade said, a sad smile appearing on her face as she remembered yesterdays' conversation.

"No wonder she's been like that the past two days. Now it makes sense." Robbie concludes.

"It'll be okay. You and Cat have gone trough worse." Andre confidently said.

"I hope so. Still doesn't change the fact that I screwed up." Jade explained, remembering what she did. She wished Cat was here, just so she could see if Cat was okay. She didn't care if it would be awkward. She didn't care about those things anymore. Jade only wanted her best friend back.

"We all screw up. That's what makes us human." Robbie said. The others looked at him, still not used to the now all knowing smart guy he had become. Then the bell rang.

"Come on, let's go to class." He said as he began walking towards class.

"Are you coming with us?" Andre asked Jade, who only shook her head.

"I'm going home. I haven't seen dad since I came back."

Andre nodded and headed off to class himself. Beck gave her a quick kiss and left. Tori waved, but just as she wanted to leave…

"Tori, wait." Jade said, stopping her in her tracks.

"Huh?" Tori turned around.

"Let's meet up later. I want to talk to you." Jade told her. Tori's smile grew wider at the idea of spending some time with Jade. They had a lot of catching up to do.

"Of course! Nozus' ?" Tori asked.

"Deal. I'll come pick you up around 8. See you later."

"Later." Tori said as she walked over to class. Jade looked around the school. The memories came back. So many things had happened here. Good ones. Bad ones. Amazing ones. Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt someone run into her. A loud thud was heard. Jade turned around, seeing Cat sitting on the floor.

"I'm sorry. I'm late and I…" Cat began apologizing until she glanced at the person she bumped in, her words getting stuck immediately. Jade smiled at her friend, happy to see her.

"Don't worry. Why are you late?" Jade asked as she helped her up.

"I didn't sleep much yesterday." Cat admitted. "I had a lot to think about." She said, looking away from Jade.

"Oh… I…"

"I'm late for class. I'll talk to you later. Okay?" Cat interrupted her. Jade only smiled.

"Okay." She said. Cat hesitated, but gave her a quick hug and walked away towards her class. Jade smiled again. It was awkward, but Cat wasn't avoiding her. Still, she knew it would take a lot to repair all this.

Jade was lying in her bed, enjoying the comfort of her room. Her father was thrilled to see her, but unfortunately, she caught him just a moment before he had to leave to catch a plane to Europe. He had to meet a big contractor and it was too late to cancel now. He apologized a million times, but Jade wasn't even angry. He gave her a hug before leaving and told her that he would call her as soon as possible.

As the music was playing in the background, Jade let her mind wander off. She didn't have to worry about work the next day. She would meet Tori later. Then she would go back to Beck's place. This week everything would be back to normal. Well, somehow. Jade sighed as her mind returned to the memory of yesterday's conversation with Cat. She saw that she really had hurt Cat in the past. She wasn't aware of that. But that was her fault. She should have paid more attention to other people's feelings. She allowed her family problems and insecurities to take over her life. She allowed those things to change her for the worst. Taking her frustrations out on others was something normal to her. Others had been doing it to her for such a long time. Her mother and her father were doing this every time when she came back from school. They would argue the whole day, and then it would all end up on her. That is why she distanced herself from them. She grew a thick skin, but inside of that was the crying girl who only wanted to be loved; to know that somebody cares for her. And yet, for some reason, she seemed to punish those who really did care. It wasn't only Cat.

Robbie and her had been friends since preschool, too. Yet, after her parent's divorce, she changed his behavior towards the then insecure boy. She became meaner. She became sarcastic. Bitchy. He never did anything to deserve that. Rex was there because he saw others threat him like that, so he made himself someone who would protect him. It worked at first, as he would use Rex to shoot back at everyone who mocked him. But after a while, it backfired on him. He began to taunt himself. He began to evolve. And a few months ago, during a party, he got drunk and had a heart to heart with Tori. After that talk, Rex disappeared, and Robbie became what he is now: a smart, confident and strong individual.

Tori was a different story. Jade remembered something bothering her about the girl the moment she saw her. Jade couldn't put a finger on it back then. She understood now. Tori's ability to help everyone, no matter who or what the situation is, was something Jade had always been jealous off. Tori possessed an ability Jade did not have. Jade wasn't good with people. She always had been a loner. Tori on the other hand, was the opposite. She was the type of person who would see trough your mask and be honestly concerned about you. Jade treated her like trash for so long, and yet Tori never did anything to even the odds. It was always the opposite. She would kill Jade's antics with kindness. The straw that broke the camels back was when Tori got her and Beck back together. Jade had come by to her place, completely wasted. She had seen Beck talk to another girl again. It triggered something in her. So she took the booze she had in her house and drank it all. A bottle and a half of Vodka later, she was at Tori's place. The next thing she remembered was waking up in Tori's room, pajamas on and aspirin ready on the table next to her. She went downstairs to find Tori in the lying on the couch, watching TV. When Tori noticed her, she took Jade's hand and led her to her car. Tori drove to Beck's place and dragged Jade inside, not even knocking. Ignoring Beck's surprised face, she sat them both down and gave them a nice "the reason you suck" speech about their behavior, letting them know how much she had it with the crap. She told them to either take their pride, stick it up their asses and finally admit that they still love each other, or to piss off our of her live. Tori was livid that moment. A smile crossed Jade's face at the memory, never before having seen Tori be like that.

Andre was a different story himself. The thing which always kept them friends was music. He was the nice guy of the group. He always had a wide smile on his face and always a joke ready to cheer someone up. Jade did not have any special memories with him. She hoped that would change in time. It's not that she didn't care about him. He is one of her best friends. It's simply that the circumstances were those that the only memory she had of their friendship are the ones where everyone was included.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the alarm she had set. 7 pm. She got up and took a shower. After finding something to wear, she got her car keys and went to her car, glad that she would have a chance to talk to Tori in person again.


	11. Righting the wrongs

Tori was waiting in front of her house, glancing at her watch every now and then. Jade was already five minutes late, but she was used to that. After another five, Jade finally drove into her driveway. Tori got in the passenger seat.

"Hi. Sorry I'm late." Jade apologized, although half heartedly.

"Yeah, sure you are." Tori said in a sarcastic manner, chuckling at the end. They drove to Nozu's listening to music. They got in and sat down on their usual table. After taking their order, Tori looked back at Jade.

"How come you got the week off? Wasn't falling behind the schedule the issue?" Tori asked, wanting to hear the story straight from her friend.

"Well, when I called you I already had forgotten about it. What I did to Cat was the only thing on my mind."

"I can imagine."

"The next morning, I was for nothing. Hell, I couldn't even say cut on time to finish the shot. Jacob, the producer I told you about, saw that something was wrong."

"Did you tell him about the argument?" Tori asked. Jade only shook her head no.

"The moment I came in the studio that morning, he approached me with a wide smile, telling me that we would get more time, as much as we needed to be accurate. He said that his bosses liked my work so far and that I have nothing to worry about. When my expression didn't change, I guess that was what gave me off." Jade explained. "After only an hour or two of shooting, I told them I didn't feel well and left. I guess then Andrew, the guy who plays the murderer, told Jacob that he thought I was simply homesick. Jacob agreed, bought me the ticket and here I am."

"Wow. Your boss is awesome."

"He really is. I guess anyone else would have told me to get my shit together or something. Not him though. I guess it's because he really enjoys what he is doing. If he hadn't done that, I would have probably quit by now. I really wasn't able to focus on anything else."

"Look, about Cat. I talked to her. I tried to explain your situation to her. I told her not to take it personally and that you didn't mean it. But she didn't listen. I spent the night there, just to make sure she doesn't do something stupid. I'm sorry I couldn't help." Tori apologized. Jade shook her head again, looking at her friend. She reached across the table and put her hand on Tori's.

"You helped me more than you could ever imagine. Thank you for being there whenever I screw up." Jade said, gently squeezing Tori's hand.

"Awww." Tori said, making Jade chuckle. "That's the first time you said something like this to me."

"I know… I should have thanked you a long time ago." Jade said as she leaned back on her chair and sighed. "I should have told Cat a long time ago."

"What happened?" Tori asked, raising an eyebrow. Jade told her about her conversation yesterday with Cat. She told Tori everything Cat had told her.

"I just wish I had dropped this tough girl façade in front of you guys. In the end, it was you who had to pay for every misery that happened in my life. I never imagined she had taken those things to heart as much as she did. I hope I didn't hurt you as much." Jade finished, looking back up at her friend. Tori smiled sympathetically, showing she understood.

"It was frustrating." Tori said honestly." But I always knew there was more to it that it seemed the eye. I knew that you had a reason for acting the way you did. After a while, I understood. You never had it easy. Your parents divorced, your father did what he did. Your stepmother was a cunt. I don't think anyone else would make it through this unscarred. But even after all this, you still managed to show loyalty to your friends. And in some rare moments, you actually opened up to some people. You came to me more than once to pour your heart out. I can only imagine how often someone like Cat had seen you like this.

"I can't continue to use my past as an excuse anymore. Those things were a long time ago. Things changed, and I should too. I had a lot of time to think about everything. Trust me, not one day passed without me thinking about one of you."

"And what do you plan to do?" Tori asked, wondering where this is going.

"I want to make up for my mistakes. I want to show you guys how much I appreciate everything you did for me. And I'm about to start from now. So my idea is that this Friday, after you guys are done with school, I take you out to dinner at that restaurant we always go to during our "ping pong tournament". It's on me." Jade said, waiting to hear Tori's response.

"Jade, that's so nice of you, but that place is expensive. You don't have to…"

"Money is not a problem. Trust me; I've made enough in the past three months. So, taking out that part, what do you think? Do you like that idea?"

"I love it. The others are going to love it too." Tori said with a smile. Her smile faded when she saw a worried expression on Jade's face. "What's wrong?"

"I… I just wondered if Cat is going to come too. I mean…" Jade said, but just sighed, not wanting to tear up again. Tori looked at her friend and smiled sympathetically. This time she was the one to reach for Jade's hand.

"She is. Jade, I know you are worried about your friendship. But trust me, it won't just end. A friendship like this never simply ends."

"How can you all be so sure?"

"Because we all know Cat. Can you guess who talked the most about you while you were gone?" Tori asked with a smile.

"I… I just hope you are right." Jade sighed.

"Come on, let's go for a walk." Tori said as she got up and reached for her purse.

"No, I'll get that." Jade said, taking the check and calling the waiter.

"Thanks, but you don't have to."

"I want to." Jade said and gave Tori a warm smile. They both got up and walked trough Hollywood, ending up sitting down on a bench in the park. The night sky was clear. They both sat there for a while, simply looking at the beauty that nature had given that night. Jade interrupted that silence after a while.

"One question."

"Yeah?"

"What happened that night before you dragged me to Beck and cussed our asses off?" Jade asked, looking over at the girl sitting next to her.

"You don't remember?" Tori raised a brow.

"No. I only remember how I began to drink and the next thing I know I'm in your bed." Jade explained.

"Well, you came to my place, completely wasted. You simply stormed into my house, sat down on my couch and began to cry. After you told me between ten and twenty times that we are not friends, you began talking about Beck and how you miss him and all that. Then you told me how you saw him with another girl and that that was the reason you got drunk. After that you mumbled again about how you are tired of crying about him and having to avoid him, and right then you ran outside and puked in my rose garden." Tori explained, grinning at the expression her friend had after hearing that part.

"What? No, I…"

"Right in the white ones. And after I was done holding your hair and letting you finish, I carried your drunken ass up, changed you into some pajamas I had and laid you down in my bed, taking the couch myself. You remember the rest." Tori finished,

"Oh god… I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I'm kinda glad you did come to me that evening. That was the first time you and I had a honest conversation."

"I never thanked you for that." Jade said, looking down.

"You actually did. Just as I laid you down, you pulled me in a hug and thanked me."

"Oh. Well, I'm glad I did. There are a lot of things I need to thank you for."

"You don't. That's what friends are for."

"Then thank you for being my friend." Jade said as she looked back at Tori, watching her smile grow.

"You're welcome." Tori said as she gave Jade a small nudge. "But I have one question myself."

"What is it?"

"Why didn't you go to Cat that time?"

"I… I didn't want her to see me in that shape. I know she would have worried sick forever after that." Jade explained,

"And simply for those small things you do when it's about her, those small changes you think others can't see, your friendship will probably last forever." Tori said confidently.

"I hope you are right." Jade said.

"Come on, let's go get your car and go home. It's late. And I have school tomorrow." Tori said as she got up and extended her hand to help Jade up. Jade took it, and as she got up, pulled Tori in a hug.

"Thank you." She told her. Tori hugged her back, happy that Jade finally took her mask off after all those years. They made their way towards Jade's car. Jade dropped Tori off at her house and drove back home. She laid down on her bed, thinking about Tori's words. She hoped that Tori was right. She hoped that she hasn't ruined it all. She was ready to do everything she could to make things right. She only wanted one more chance, and she would fight for it. Tomorrow, she would tell the others about her plans for Friday night, and she already had an idea for Saturday too. The karaoke bar they had gone to before had a new owner, so there was a big reopening. Her thoughts were interrupted by her phone. She checked the message she got. It was from Cat.

"_I can't sleep. I miss you." _


	12. Surprise?

„_I can't sleep. I miss you. _"Jade read that message over and over again; to be sure her eyes weren't fooling her. She thought about how to answer. Should she simply tell her to come over? Ask her what's wrong first?

"Fuck it." Jade said and began typing.

"_I miss you too. I'm at my place. Come over if you want to._" She typed and pressed the send button. There. Now it's all up to Cat. Jade watched her phone, waiting for a reply. The seconds seemed like hours to her. A minute later, she got an answer.

"_Are you sure you want me there?_" Jade began typing again, her fingers quicker that her mind.

"_Yes, I am._"

"_Kaykay._" And she didn't want anything more. Jade sighed at the situation. Not long ago, such messages weren't even necessary. They could simply come over to the others place without asking. One would always be there to cheer up the other when necessary. Cat cheered Jade up every time she had an argument with Beck in the past, or when her father told Jade that his girlfriend would move in with them. She would simply appear at Cat's place and tell her what's wrong. And now it came to a situation where both couldn't even have a normal conversation without feeling awkward or in Jade's case, guilty.

The knock on the door snapped Jade out of her thoughts. She went downstairs and opened the door, a sad smile appearing on her face when she saw the redhead standing there.

"Hi…" Cat weakly greeted, trying to look around, not to meet Jade's eyes.

"Hi. Come in." Jade stepped aside and motioned Cat to enter. They went upstairs and sat down on Jades bed.

"Why couldn't you sleep?" Jade asked softly. Cat raised her gaze from the floor up to her friend. She let out a heavy sigh and stood up.

"This is bullshit!" she yelled out of sudden, startling the Goth with the outburst.

"W… what do you mean?" Jade asked, confused at the statement and shocked at the cursing.

"This is fucking bullshit. All this!" Cat said again, beginning to pace in Jade's room. Jade kept her stare at her friend, not knowing what the next reaction could be.

"My best friend who I hadn't seen in fourteen weeks comes back and I can't hang out with her because of some stupid thing said on the phone and me reacting to it like an oversensitive bitch. Tell me if that's not fucking bullshit?" Cat asked, stopping in her pacing and looking directly at Jade, who didn't answer right away. This was the last thing she had expected. Cat shook her head and continued.

"All this time I try to be angry at the things you say; the way you act; the way you threat others; me. And every time I do so, I get mad at myself! Do you know why? Because I understand why you did all those things! I understand where they come from. I understand because I've been there every time something happened. I know what you have been through. I understand that you have no other way to deal with those things. And still, I can't just shrug your insults off like Tori does. I can't ignore them like Robbie always did. I can't forget any of those things you said although I know you didn't mean them. And because I have a bipolar, oversensitive mind I almost threw this friendship of 12 years away because of nothing! I almost threw it away because I always keep thinking about the bad things you have done. I never stopped to think about everything you have done for me. Every time my brother had to go to the hospital, you were there. Every time I was depressed, you were there for me. I never seem to remember those things, and I hate myself for that!" Cat finished as tears began flowing down her cheek. Jade jumped off her bed and placed both hands on Cat's shoulders, stopping her from pacing around anymore. Cat was looking down, tears freely falling. Jade placed two fingers under Cat's chin, lifting her up so she was looking at the Goth. Cat's tear filled eyes were met by a warm smile and a pair of green eyes filled with tears themselves. Jade shook her head.

"You are right. This situation is bullshit. It's bullshit because I did all these stupid things. And I used things from the past to do them. I did them to people who never hurt me once in my life. And I thought I had the right to do them. But I don't."

"Jade… I understand why you did them. It's okay…"

"No, it's not." Jade cut her off, her voice calm yet conflicted trough her resisting the urge to cry. "It's not okay. You have every right to be mad at me. You do. You didn't overreact. I was the one who made a lot of mistakes. But I want to change. I'm going to stop acting that way. I'm going to open up more to you guys. I won't make you pay for the things others did to me. You don't deserve to be treated that way. I meant all those things I said the other day. If you give me one more chance, I promise I'm going to do my best to make up for the bad things I've done. I'm going to show you more how much I appreciate you. I'm tired myself of acting the way I did in the past." Jade sighed, her gaze not once moving from her friend. "I'm sorry for what I did." Jade finished. For a moment, there was only silence. Everything had been said now. Jade felt Cat tremble under her hands. Cat looked up at Jade again, a small smile forming on her lips as closed the distance between them and embraced the taller girl in a hug. Jade gladly hugged her back, the weight of the world having fallen of her shoulder.

"Thank you." Jade whispered, happy to have her best friend back.

"How about we watch a movie?" Cat asked, her tears finally coming to a halt.

"Sure. Go pick one; I'll go get something to eat." Jade said as Cat went to pick a DVD. Jade went downstairs and took some chips and sodas. She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket and checked the message. It was from Beck.

"_You not coming over 2nite?_" She quickly typed a reply.

"_No, Cat is at my place. We're having a sleepover. :')" _She sent the message, getting the answer half a minute later.

"_You kids have fun! :D 3_" She put her phone back in her pocket and went upstairs to her room. She saw Cat lying on the bed. Jade laid down herself and placed the chips on the side.

"What movie did you pick?" Jade asked, looking at the redhead.

"Naked gun. I just want to laugh." Cat said with a small smirk.

"Me too. Let's watch it." They started the movie. After an hour, they both fell asleep. Their sleep was peaceful, for the first time in days.

Beck, Andre and Robbie were standing in front of Beck's locker, talking about a project they had. Beck had a smile on his face the whole time.

"What are you so happy about?" he turned around when he heard Tori talk to him.

"Oh nothing." He simply shrugged. "But if you turn towards that door you might find the reason."

Tori turned around with a confused expression on her face, happiness replacing it the moment she saw Cat and Jade walk into Hollywood Arts together, talking and laughing. They walked over to them.

"Hi!" Cat greeted them with her old enthusiasm. Tori looked at her and then at Jade.

"Did… did you two?" Andre stuttered.

"Mhm." Cat nodded.

"Finally…" Robbie uttered, making the others laugh. They did agree with his statement.

"Guys, look. Friday night, dinner at the restaurant we always go to during our ping pong tournaments. I'm inviting you." Jade told them, earning a stare from the guys.

"Jade, did you forget how expensive that place is?" Andre asked.

"Did you forget that I'm working on a Hollywood movie? Money is not an issue right now." Jade answered with a smirk. "So? What do you say?" She looked around.

"I'm in." Andre said, his mouth watering at the memory of the delicious food.

"Me too." Beck said.

"I already told you, yes." Tori said.

"I told you too." Cat smiled.

"Can I order the Caviar again?" Robbie asked with a grin.

"Don't push it, Shapiro." Jade told him with the old intimidation in her voice. He simply shrugged as he turned around and walked to class, Andre, Tori and Cat following him, greeting Jade as they left.

"So… You have time for a date tonight?" Beck asked her, happy to have her for himself for a moment.

"Oh, and what type of date?" She teased.

"Let's just say, I have a surprise for you." Beck said with a grin. He gave her a quick kiss and left. Jade walked outside, thinking about what surprise Beck could have planned.


	13. Surprise

Jade was sitting in her living room, watching TV and enjoying being at home for a few more days. It was around 6 pm when all of the sudden someone knocked on the door. She got up and opened it, surprised to see Beck standing there.

"Hey, why didn't you tell me you were going to come over?" she asked him before giving him a quick kiss.

"No time to explain. Get in the car." he told her, dragging her out.

"What? What's…"

"I can't explain. Get in the car, please." He told her. She complied, but still didn't understand the situation.

"Why? Where are we going?" she said as she locked her door and got inside his car, he quickly following.

"Now it wouldn't be a surprise if I told you, would it?" he said with a grind and handed her a piece of cloth. "Put that on your eyes."

"A blindfold? Come on, that's too much."

"Please?" he begged, putting on a puppy face.

"Oh god, okay!" she finally gave in, wrapping the cloth around her head so that she couldn't see anything. "I swear, Cat is already enough with those puppy faces, don't start yourself."

"I'm sorry, but I really want for this to work, so please, don't peek." He told her as he started the engine and drove off.  
Jade was sitting in the car, having absolutely no idea where Beck was taking her. After what seemed twenty minutes to her, he parked the car and turned the engine off.

"Don't look yet." He told her as he got out of the car and walked over to the passenger door. He opened the door and led her outside.

"You could have at least told me when you would come so I could have dressed up." Jade said.

"That's not important. You are beautiful no matter what you wear." He told her, making her blush. He really knew how to make a girl feel good.

"Here we are. You can look now." He told her as he took a step aside. She took of the blindfold and opened her eyes. She stood in awe as she found herself on a hill, a table for two set on one side with a blanked placed on the ground a few feet away. The view from the hill was amazing, the clear night sky working perfectly with the view over Hollywood. She turned around, her mouth open and her eyes wide, to look at her boyfriend. He was amused by her reaction, happy that he did surprise her.

"Beck, this is…"

"The most beautiful place in the world found by the most amazing boyfriend in the world?" Beck finished with a grin. She ran over to him and answered him with a passionate kiss. After a few minutes, they took a seat at the table Beck had set up. He lit the candles and took out the food he prepared.

"How long have you been planning this?" Jade asked him as he was getting the drinks out of the cooler.

"To be honest, I had planned all this two weeks before Tori dragged you to my place that day." He admitted.

"Before we got together again?" Jade asked as he sat down.

"Mhm. To be honest, I had made a thousand plans about what I would do once we got back together, but I had never found a good way of asking you to come back to me. Thank god it turned out the way it did."

"This is amazing." She said as she took another look at the view from the hill. "How did you find this place?"

"During those six months I had a lot of thinking to do. So whenever I couldn't sleep and needed to think, I got into my car and drove around. One night, I found this place. The first thing that came to my mind then was "Jade would love it here". And I was right about that."

He said with a smile. She smiled back at him, shaking her head at his actions. He was a hopeless romantic when he wanted to be.

"Do you actually know what got Tori to dragging me to your RV that day and giving us the pep talk?" Jade asked him.

"Nope. And it wasn't a pep talk. She basically told us that we were childish idiots who need to get our heads out of our asses." He said as he emphasized Tori's actual words. "You told me you didn't remember anything but waking up at her place."

"Well, she told me yesterday what actually happened the night before."

"Oh. So? What happened?"

"Well, I saw you talking to another girl that day. And it wasn't really talking. She was all over you."

"Oh. You mean Vanessa." He sighed. He didn't know Jade saw them. "Look, I didn't even want to talk to her. But she kept trying. She is worse than Trina in that aspect." He explained.

"I figured that out the moment I saw it. But still, I got angry. And you know as well as I do that anger is nothing more but a cheap substitute to sadness. And I got very angry that day. So as my father wasn't home again and that bitch he called girlfriend went with him, I took some booze out of his stash. A bottle and half of vodka later, I came over to Tori's place, completely wasted. Then I poured my heart out to her. About you; about everything. She said it was the first real conversation we had until then. So after I fell asleep at her place, you know what happened."

"I'm sorry I pissed you off to the point that you drank because of that." He apologized, his usual confidence replaced with guilt. Jade got up from her chair and walked over to him, sitting down in his lap.

"I'm not. If it hadn't happened, who knows when we would have ended back together." She said before giving him a kiss. They got up and moved over to the blanked stretched on the ground. They lied down as Jade rested her head on his chest, his arms around her.

"I won't make that mistake again." He said, breaking the silence. She looked up at him, confused.

"What mistake?"

"The one I did that day at Tori's place. I won't give up on us ever again. That was the biggest mistake of my life." He explained, pulling her closer as if he wanted to prevent her from ever leaving again. As if he wanted to prevent himself from ever letting her go.

"I do understand why you did it. I was impossible. My behavior almost drove all the people I care about away from me. I already told Tori and I already told Cat. I want to change the way I treat others."

"Nobody wants you to change. Just be the Jade I always knew. The one I fell in love with so many years ago. The strong yet caring one."

"I have many wrongs to right." She said in a sad tone.

"Not with me. To me, you have always been the best. I don't regret a minute of the time we spent together. I would do it all again in a heartbeat." He said before he felt something wet on his chest. He lowered his look to see Jade crying. "Hey, why are you crying?"

"You are such a hopeless romantic." She smiled trough her tears. "I'm crying because I'm happy. Life has become so… good for me. I've got you. I've got my job. I've got Tori. Andre. Robbie. And I got Cat back. I couldn't be happier."

"Hey, how did Cat end up at your place?" he finally asked what he had been wondering about since he got her text last night.

"After I got Vega home, I drove back to my place. While I was lying in my bed simply thinking about my conversation with Tori, I got a text from her. It simply said "I can't sleep. I miss you", so I invited her over. We talked and everything is fine now. I promised her and Tori that day that I would change my behavior and show them how much I actually appreciate them and what they have done for me."

"That's great. I'm glad you made that decision."

"So am I. I've got a few more days left before I go back. Is there something you want us to do?" She asked him.

"Just stay with me." He told her, surprising her that he didn't make any sexual anecdote this time. "I know you are going away for another few months, but when you come back, I'll make every day special. I promise you that." He told her before kissing her again. She enjoyed the perfect moment, wishing time would freeze. She wanted this to last forever. She wished she didn't have to go back. She wished she didn't have to leave them again. But she knew that when all the work is done and she comes back to Hollywood again, people that love her will be waiting for her.


	14. Cut!

The last few days off were a blast. Thursday Jade spent with Beck. Friday, she took her friends to the expensive restaurant. They had a great time, joking around and enjoying the overall atmosphere of the place. Saturday she went shopping with Cat and Tori, buying everything she wanted. What's the use of earning so much money if she wasn't going to enjoy it, right? In the evening they went out the karaoke bar Jade had told them about. They spent the whole night either singing or dancing. Andre performed a new song he wrote and received nothing but praise from everyone. Jade and Cat sang a duet themselves. It felt like old times. She enjoyed every moment. She talked to each of her friends. She had a long conversation with Robbie after such a long time.

Right now, on Sunday, she was on the airport again. She already said goodbye to everyone, but that didn't prevent Beck and Cat from coming with her anyway. They were waiting for Jade's plane back to Florida. The mood was much easier than the last time she left. Everyone knew that the worst part was over.

"Do you miss work?" Beck asks, hugging Jade from behind as she was looking at her ticket.

"I actually do. But I don't want to leave." She sighed, leaning back against him.

"I don't want you to leave either. But you'll be back sooner than you think. You'll see, time will fly as it did the first three months. And once you get back into that studio, you'll feel good again." He said as he places tiny kisses on her neck.

"Do you guys need some privacy?" Beck stopped when he heard Cat's voice. She had gone to get them something to drink and to eat. Now she was standing there with some sandwiches in one hand, sodas in the other, and a grin on her face. Beck chuckled at the redhead, happy to see her in good spirits again.

"No, don't worry. I just wanted to savor the moment." Beck said with a grin, earning a playful slap to the arm from Jade.

"I don't want to leave again." Jade said after a deep breath. She knew she had to go back and finish her work. She knew that time would fly. She knew that she would see them all again. But it didn't help. She didn't want to leave.

"I don't want you to leave either, but you still have to finish the movie." Cat said as she gave Beck the food and drinks. She walked towards Jade and wrapped her arms around the taller girls' waist. "Don't throw everything away now. You'll be back soon and everything will be great."

Jade smiled as she hugged her best friend back. The past week has been a rollercoaster of emotions for the both of them. She was glad that things were back to normal. No. Better than they were before.

"Awww." Beck said as he took a bite from a sandwich. He grinned at the death glare he got from his girlfriend. Cat chuckled as she let go from Jade and walked over to Beck to get something to eat herself.

They spent the next hour simply sitting there and talking. When the last call for her flight came, Jade got up and took a deep breath.

"I'll see you when the movie is done." She says as she hugs her boyfriend and her best friend. They hug her back and watch her leave for the plane.

"Let's go, I'll drive you home." Beck said to Cat as he put an arm around her shoulder.

"Kaykay." She said as they went to his car.

Jade sat down in the plane, immediately taking out her laptop to begin some of the work she had to do. It would keep her from thinking about what she was leaving again. She didn't even see her dad longer than fifteen minutes. But she saw Beck again. She talked to the gang. She made up with Cat and finally showed her how much she appreciated her. All in all it was something good, as it went from the worst Sunday in her life to the best week she ever had at home.

After she landed she took a cab to her apartment. The first thing she did was take a long bath. She relaxed completely. Her mind wandered off to what had happened to her and what decisions she made in the past few days. She wanted to be a better person than she was before. She wanted to drop the whole tough girl thing, at least when she was with the people she trusted, who knew that it wasn't her. She did the first steps. She told Cat how much she actually cared. How much she appreciated everything Cat had done for her. She saw that it meant a lot to her. She saw that something changed in her expression when she said that. She saw the same thing happen when she did the talked to Tori. She wasn't going to stop now. Without those people, she wouldn't be here. Even her father had finally shown her that he cared. She had no more excuses to be that mean, ungrateful person she was. Now, she had some ideas on how to pay them back bit by bit. She got out of the hot tub, put on one of Beck's big t-shirts and lied down into her big bed. After watching some TV, she finally fell asleep, knowing that she had work the next day.

Jade walked into the familiar studio again. Beck was right. She did feel better already. She walked into the set and sat down. She took the script to check what they would do today. Finish the dialogues, go to the tone studio and choose the samples. Tomorrow and onward would be the most important part. They would shoot the final scene. It would take at least a week, and there was no guarantee that the effects would work this time. Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt someone pat her on the shoulder. She turned around to see Jacob standing there.

"How was your vacation?" he asked. She got up and gave him a hug.

"It was great. And yes, I took care of the problems I had." Jade told him with a smile. He smiled back, glad that he had his director back focused.

"Happy to hear it. I had quite some fun myself."

"Oh really. And how did you spend your week off?"

"Let's just say it's really relaxing when you and your girlfriend spend the whole time on the beach and then go out in the evening."

"Oh, I believe you. Where are the others?"

"Give them a minute, they'll be here soon."

And he was right. Slowly everyone was coming into the studio, ready to continue with their work. The crew was setting up everything while the actors were in getting ready. The day went without a flaw. The dialogues were done in two takes maximum. The sound effects crew already had found the samples Jade had sent them and now they were putting it all together. The last part was spent on finding a great track for the final part. Jade was a perfectionist when it came to work, and the sound effects crew found that out the hard way. Nothing seemed to be right. She always found something that didn't fit. But after a few hours of searching, she finally found something she liked.

"Thank god!" one of the guys deadpanned when she finally picked the track. They only hoped that she wouldn't change her mind once the scene was shot.

Two more weeks had passed. The final ten minutes of the movie were almost completely filmed. But now came the part that she was afraid off. Andrew was in full costume. The prosthetics were on him. He was chasing the heroine as the acid she had injected in him was taking its toll on him. They were prepared this time, making more prosthetics this time instead of just one. As the killer was chasing the heroine, the special effects crew began to work the prosthetics, using wires and everything. It didn't work. The atmosphere in the studio became more intense immediately. They all knew what was on line. They wouldn't get more time again. Either this works, or everything they had done was for nothing. Jade wasn't going to set for a washed down ending, and neither was anyone else after all the work they put into this project.

While the SFX guys put the second prosthetics on him, Jade got herself some coffee. She was nervous. This had to work somehow. They had made four of them and the first one failed. After an hour that it took them to put on the other, they shot the scene again. And again, it didn't work.

"Cut!" Jade growled, slowly loosing hope. Jacob stood next to her, biting his fingernails. He was the calm person in the room, but even he couldn't stay cool in this situation. He watched Andrew scream out in frustration. Take three. It seemed to work, but then a wire popped out of it, deeming the shot wasted.

"Cut!" Jade said again, defeat noticeable in her voice. She wanted to give up by now. Andrew saw it and walked over to her.

"Don't give up now. We still got the last one. It will work, trust me." He said as he kneeled down in front of her. She looked at him and he gave her a confident smile. He knew how much this meant for her. It wasn't that a mistake like this could end her career. The higher ups were happy with her work. He knew that a failure like this could cause her to give up on directing altogether. And he didn't want that.

"He's right." Jacob joined in, standing next to Andrew. "One more shot. Let's do this."

The waiting for Andrew to be ready was wrecking everyone's nerves. After another hour finally, he was in full costume again and they started the scene.

"Action." Jade said as the camera began rolling. The scene worked fine as always. Now came the crucial part. Everyone held their breath as the SFX began working. And it worked flawlessly; they watched a both beautiful yet disturbing scene of the meltdown of the killer. It was done. The last take was a success.

"Cut!" Jade cheered, happier than ever. "Cut! Cut! Cut! Motherfucking cut!" she yelled as she jumped out of her chair and gave Jacob a hug. They both laughed at the successful shot. Andrew let out a growl out of joy as he ripped apart the prosthetics of him and tossed them to the ground with full force.

"Guys, this was the final shot. We have finished shooting "Pop goes the Weasel" and I want to thank each on of you for your hard work and passion. And I also want to thank our director, who did a fantastic job for her first project." He said as the whole crew began applauding her. She felt overwhelmed with emotion. She was smiling as a little child while some tears slid down her cheek.

"Thank you all." She said as she wiped away the tears.

"I don't know about you, but I'm starving. Let's go out, all of you. Dinner and drinks are on me." Jacob said, after which everyone stampeded out of the building. He and Jade stood there, watching the crew take off to change. He turned his head and looked at her.

"Good job."


	15. Final plans

Jade made her way into the conference room of Paramount studios. Jacob summoned her, Andrew and the main actors to discuss the promotional work. Jade was relieved that she was the first one there, as always. She immediately made her way towards the coffee machine, needing some morning energy. After finishing the final shot of the movie, Jacob took them all out to dinner and drinks. The dinner lasted until midnight, while the drinks lasted until 5 AM. Now it was 9 AM and Jade knew that while she didn't drink that much, she would deal with hung-over people this morning. Still, it didn't matter. The movie was done. Everything was done the way she wanted it to. She knew that the hardest part was over. Now, it would be up to Jacob and the studio to do the promotional work.

As she finished making her coffee and sat down, the door opened. Jade had to smirk at the view in front of her. Jacob came into the room, t-shirt and jeans instead of suit and tie. He didn't look good. He saw her smirk and slowly sat down himself, putting his head in his hands.

"Coffee, I beg you. Lot's of sugar." He said in a tired voice. Jade shook her head and got up, walking over to the coffee machine herself. She heard the door open again. She saw Andrew walk in, not in a bad shape as Jacob, but close enough. He closed the door, making Jacob raise his head and look at the former security officer who he had known for years.

"Please, don't make any loud noises." Jacob begged. Andrew let out a silent snigger.

"Miss West, please, coffee. Dark." He said as he put a hand over his eyes, massaging his temples. Jade laughed as she brought them the coffee they ordered. They both took a big gulp. It seemed to work, as both got some life back in their expressions. The actresses joined them soon, and Jacob began to talk business with them.

"Now that the movie is done, the hardest part is over. What we have to do now is promote it. Let the world know that it exists and give them every reason to want to watch it. Jade, I want you to work with the editors. You make your own cut; we'll send it to the MPAA and wait for their rating. Since it barely has any blood or gore until the very last moment, there shouldn't be any problems. The sound and music is being added as we are talking right now, thanks to you taking initiative a few weeks ago already."

"And what are the plans? How do you promote movies like this?" Andrew asked him, as if he read Jade's mind.

"Commercials, trailers, talk show appearances that you guys will make, interviews on television and on radio. The whole deal."

"But we are new. For many of us, this is the first movie we've ever done. How are we going to get anyone's attention without a big name?" one of the actresses asked. The room went silent for a moment. The only big name they had was the idiot that didn't listen to Jade's ideas and got fired in the beginning. She was right though. They needed something to capture the Medias attention.

"Wait… I got it!" Jade said all of sudden, getting everyone's attention. "The Freakshow Horror Film Festival is held in Florida, right?"

"A Horror Film Festival?" Andrew asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, they feature independent movies, but also newcomers in every aspect of moviemaking. If we show our movie there and one critic sees it and likes it…"

"We get immediate publicity trough a pre-premiere. Jade, you are brilliant." Jacob cut her off, a grin appearing on his face. "The festival is in a few weeks though. If we want to make it, we don't have any more time to waste."

"I'll go to the editing studio." Jade got up. "I'll have a trailer ready until the evening." She said as she stormed out of the room.

"I'll arrange the interviews and the rest. Guys, be ready when I call you. We don't have much time and need as much exposure as possible."

Jade and the editors worked until late that day. It was already three in the morning, but they did finish cutting the movie together and also making three trailers. Jade got into her apartment and walked immediately towards her bed. She plumbed right into it, simply wanting to finally fall asleep after a 18 hours day. She barely got herself to get up again and change into her pajamas. Jacob and she had kept each other up to date on everything. He arranged that the movie would have it's pre-premiere on the festival in six weeks. He was more than relieved when he got the call that the movie was done and now they were finishing the trailers. He told her that he would pick them up tomorrow and make sure they were shown everywhere possible. He also made sure that the actors and Jade herself had appearances and interviews on some major shows. Everything was going well. Now it all depended if the MPAA would give them a good rating. She hoped for a PG-13, enabling them to promote it everywhere, while a higher rating would restrict it. After a few more minutes she fell asleep, exhausted of a productive and successful day.

Two more weeks had passed. Jade and Andrew were sitting in the conference room, waiting for Jacob. Today the ratings from the MPAA were supposed to come in. They were nervous. Jade knew that the association had a history of giving movies a hard time for stupid reasons. Jade was worried about the final part of the movie and that it might be the key factor if they got an R-rating.

"Look, no matter what happens, you did a fantastic job. I don't care if it becomes a box office success." Andrew said, trying to calm her down.

"I don't know… If it flops, will anyone ever give me another opportunity?" Jade sighed, every bad scenario going trough her head right now.

"No career ends with one failure. Come on Jade, you know that better than me. You watched probably every horror movie ever made. How many great directors made crap from time to time?" Andrew asked her. She was silent for a while, thinking about his words. He wasn't an expert, but he was far from an idiot in the business. Talking to people like Jacob gave him a lot of insight, and just what he heard while being a simple security officer gave him a good idea about how the business worked.

"I guess you are right. Thank you."

"No problem."

Just as he finished, the door opened. Jacob walked in with a big brown envelope in his hands. His face was emotionless. He gave the envelope to Jade, who stared at him, waiting for something. When he didn't say anything, she took the letter out of the envelope and began reading it. Her face went from curiosity to relief to happiness as she read the rating they got. PG-13, just as she wanted. She looked back at Jacob, who was finally smiling.

"Did my expression scare you, Jade?" he asked with a smirk. She only shook her head.

"Yes, it did… So, what now?"

"I watched the trailers. I love them. I gave them to my boss who gave it to the promotional people. They already put it on the internet and sent it to some cinemas so that they can show it. Now, we have to take every opportunity to promote it until the festival. We got 4 weeks."

"Well, now it's up to the movie to make an impact." Andrew said as he got up. "I'm going to get something to eat. Call me when you need something."

"See you later." Jacob told him as he left. He looked back at Jade. "You did a fantastic job. I'm proud of you, and you have every reason to be proud of yourself." He told her. "But now, it's really up to the movie to deliver, and I'm sure it will."

"I hope so."

"Go, get some sleep. Our work today is done. I'll call you tomorrow." Jacob told her as he opened the door.

"Jacob, wait!" she called, making him turn around to face her.

"What is it?"

"I need a favor."


	16. Letters

Cat was sitting in her room, doing her homework, when somebody knocked on her door.

"Come in." Cat yelled as she had finished reading the assigned part. She closed the book and lifted her gaze to see her mother standing at the door.

"Honey, I just picked up our mail and found this letter. It's for you." Her mom said as she handed her the letter and walked out of the room. Cat looked at the envelope, opening it after not finding from who it was. In the envelope she found a something. It was a ticked for an event. It read "The Freakshow Horror Film Festival". Cat remembered Jade telling her about such festivals in the past. Next to that ticked was a first class plane ticket to Florida. Cat opened the sheet of paper next and began reading it:

_Dear Cat_

_ If you found the ticket, you already have an idea what this is about. My movie's pre-premiere is going to be on the The event lasts one week, and the studio will get permissions from school so you can be absent. I would be happy if you and the others would come to Florida and spend that week with me. It is a very important moment for me. You know that I worked very hard for that movie and the pre-premiere means a lot in promoting it. Jacob, the producer, got me the tickets and I sent each of you a letter with a plane ticked to Florida so you can come and be here with me when my movie gets shown for the first time. I want to share it with my friends; especially my best friend. I hope you can come._

_ Love, Jade._

_Ps: The trailer for my movie is online, so feel free to watch it ;) Call me soon._

A wide smile appeared on Cat's face as she finished reading the letter. She would travel to Florida and spend time with Jade again. She smiled even more when she realized that it meant that the movie was done and Jade would come home soon. She took the plane ticked and searched for the date. The ticket was reserved for the plane leaving in a week. She needed to ask her parents, but they would say yes. Especially after they saw her be sad and depressed in the past few months because Jade wasn't there. Cat laid the ticked on the table and picked up her phone. She searched her contacts and stopped at the one she wanted. She called the number and waited for a few rings until her call got answered.

"Hey Tori, it's me. Did you get a letter from Florida?" Cat asked as soon as she heard her pick up.

"I'm actually reading it right now. I can't believe she got us all tickets to the festival and to Florida."

"Neither can I. Are you going?"

"Of course! I wouldn't miss this for anything, even if I don't like horror movies."

"Yay. How about this, tomorrow, after school, we all meet somewhere and discuss the trip. I hope everyone will go."

"Oh trust me, we all are going. Beck won't miss this for anything, and Andre and Robbie simply love to travel. But you are right; we need to talk about the trip. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye!" Cat said as she hung up. She ran downstairs to the living room where her parents were watching TV. She showed them the letter she got from Jade and asked for their permission to go. They looked at each other for a while, but after a few rules got set, they agreed. The Valentines smiled as they watched Cat jump around out of joy, glad to see her happy again. Cat ran back upstairs and took her phone again. She typed a quick message and giggled as she sent it to Jade.

_Got your letter; cya in a week :D 3_

Jacob, Andrew, Jade and the two main heroines, Samantha and Rachel, were having dinner together in a restaurant. The actors, Jade had finished giving an interview in a local radio show while Jacob had been at the studio to talk to Paramount's CEO and the Board of directors. They were all talking about the promotional work they had done in the past weeks. The trailers were put on the internet and every fourth big cinema in the country. They had interviews, radio and TV appearances left and right, all for the sake of letting the people know that the movie existed and why it was worth spending money on.

"Here's the deal. The higher ups love the promotional work we have been doing. But we need one more thing if we want them to distribute the movie on a larger scale. Our only hope is that a credible film critic is going to attend the festival and write a good critique about the movie. Now, I'm not worried about critiques being there. What I'm more worried about is if the movie rubs one of them the wrong way and they bury it as soon as they can." Jacob explained.

"Why would any critic do something like that? The movie is great." Andrew protested.

"Oh it is. I know that the movie is great. My bosses agree too. But that's not the point. Look, the audiences on such festivals are all hardcore horror fans. Those people have seen it all, and they won't just accept everything you show them. Also, some of the critics are simply assholes. They will wreck a good movie just for the sake of writing something bad and finding the most stupid things to bitch about." Jacob said as he looked around the table.

"Sensationalism." Jade simply stated, making Jacob motion towards here as if he was saying "exactly".

"I've read many of those. They will pick a detail, whatever they can find. Be it violence, profanity, cheapness, some hidden message. Anything." She finished.

"Exactly that. They do that, someone will call them up on it and the critic gets invited to a radio show or anything, and gets free and effective way to promote himself. And we all know how society is. They love negative things." Jacob emphasized the last sentence to make his point. The others nodded, understanding the part of the business.

"What if it backfires?" Samantha asked all of the sudden.

"What do you mean backfires?" Rachel asked, looking at her colleague.

"What I mean is that those things happen to every movie. That doesn't have to ruin it. Sometimes, when you tell people that something is bad, crappy or however you want to call it, they want to see it even more. Find out for themselves." She explained.

"True. That happens often with teenage audiences. Tell them that something isn't good for them and they will run towards it even quicker." Andrew agreed.

"Well, let's just wait and find out in a week. Who knows what will happen. For now, you all did a great job. Especially you Jade. I've worked with many producers, older and more experienced than you, and yet I've never seen anyone have such a clear vision and idea of what he or she actually wants. I don't care how the movie ends; I would love to work with you again. If you write any other script, send it to me." Jacob said as he raised his glass for a toast. Jade blushed as the others raised their glasses too, cheering her and her work.

"Thank you guys. It was great working with you. If I get another opportunity, you will definitely be a part of it." Jade said as she raised her glass too. She took a sip of her drink when she felt her phone ring. She saw the caller and excused herself. She went outside and answered.

"Hey." She said softly.

"Hey babe. I got your letter. I can't believe that you pulled something like this." Beck said, shaking his head on the other line.

"Are you coming?"

"Of course I am. I wouldn't miss an opportunity to spend time with you."

"Oh god, now I can't wait for next week. Beck, I'm so nervous."

"Why?"

"What if the movie flops after everything? We just talked about it. I'm having dinner with the cast and the producer. We talked about some critic panning the movie or something like that. I don't know what I'm going to do if that happens."

"Jade, calm down. I watched the trailer today with Rob and Andre. Fair to say, we all jumped out of our seats once we watched it. And if it scared me, who watched at least a thousand movies with you, it will work on everyone. Have some confidence in your work."

"I'll try."

"I don't care how successful it becomes, I'm proud of you. We all are."

"You are such a hopeless romantic."

"I know. And I know that you love that about me. I got to go. See you in a week. Love you."

"I love you too. See you soon." She said as she hung up. Just as she wanted to go inside, she got a text message. Then another one. She opened the first one. It was from Tori.

"_Got your letter. See you in a week __. PS; the trailer scared the chiz out of me!" _Jade laughed at the idea of Tori watching the trailer and screaming out of fear. She then opened the other message.

"_Got your letter; cya in a week :D 3" _Jade smiled when she saw the message. Cat would come too. Another message, this time from Robbie.

"_Got your message. Can't wait to see Florida :D" _And then Andre's came last.

"_See you in a week. Thanks for the invitation. Btw, I'm already scared of your movie :O" _She laughed as she remembered what Beck told her. She went back inside with a wide smile on her face.

"Good news?" Jacob asked her with a grin.

"Yeah. My friends are coming. Thank you again for the tickets." Jade said with a honest smile on her face.

"You're welcome."

"Excuse me, I'll be right back." She got up and went to the restroom. As she wanted to walk into it, she noticed something.

"Andrew? Rachel?" Jade called as she saw them kiss in the hallway. As soon as they noticed her, they quickly separated. She hurried back to the table while Andrew was left with a shocked Jade.

"It's… not what you think. You see, she still had some sauce on her lip, so I…"

"Oh stop it. Are you two a couple now?"

"Well, yes."

"And you were going to tell us when?"

"I guess now would be a good idea."

"I agree. Now, go and tell the others." Jade told him as Andrew walked off. Jade laughed as she went into the restroom. She couldn't wait for next week.


	17. Nervous

Jade was waiting in front of the airport. Her excitement grew by the minute. The plane would land in a few minutes and she couldn't wait to see the others again. After fifteen more minutes that seemed like an eternity for her, she saw the gang walk towards the place she was standing. She held up a cardboard sign which read "Hollywood Arts" while the others were looking.

"I found her." Robbie said as he pointed towards Jade holding up the sign. Cat squealed as she dropped her luggage for the others to pick up and ran towards Jade, basically tackling her best friend as she crushed her in a big hug. Jade tossed away the sing as she watched Cat run towards her, hugging her back for dear life. She saw the others approach them, Andre and Robbie carrying Cat's things now. When Cat finally let go, Jade felt herself embraced again, this time by Tori. Robbie and Andre followed quickly, leaving Beck standing there, simply looking at her. She ran over towards him and wrapped her arms around his neck. He hugged her back and lifted her up from the ground. Finally, she crashed her lips onto his for a long, passionate kiss. They didn't care that the whole airport was staring now. She didn't care, she was happy. And Beck cared even less. He wasn't from the place, so screw them. After a few minutes, Jade led them outside of the airport. She watched their jaws drop as she walked them towards a black stretch limousine.

"Is that for us?" Tori asked as she stood there, seemingly cemented in the ground.

"Yup. I figured I'll give you the best possible welcome I can. So before we get to my place, how about we take a ride trough the city?" Jade asked as she looked back at them. They only nodded, at which she only chuckled. They got inside the limousine, commenting every detail as they sit down. Jade leaned over and whispered something to the chauffeur. He only nodded and began driving. She sat back down in her seat next to Beck.

"How was the flight?" She asked them.

"It was nice. I never flied first class before." Andre said.

"Yeah, but seven hours is way too long, even in first class." Robbie added.

"Well, imagine if we shot this in Europe or even Australia. How would you handle twenty-some hours of flying?" Jade joked.

"I would tuck my head into the toilet and flush it. It would rip my head right off and the suffering would be over." Beck stated, making everyone, including the driver, laugh.

"Who knows, if Jade directs another movie after this one, and they do shoot somewhere far away…" Tori began.

"Well, then you can use my beheaded body as a prop." Beck joked again as he put his arm around Jade and gave her another kiss.

They drove around for an hour, with Jade showing them the town she had been in for the past five months. After they were done, the limousine parked in front of the building where Jade's apartment was. They got out and the limousine drove off. Jade led them upstairs towards her place and opened the door. They entered, all uttering long "Wows" as they got inside. They placed their things in a corner and checked out her place. The bathroom got everyone's attention immediately. Beck, on the other hand, took a look at the bedroom.

"So that's the king sized bed you were talking about." He said with a grin as he was looking at Jade. She rolled her eyes, slapping him playfully on the arm.

"How are we going to do this? I mean, there is six of us." Cat asked as she stood in the living room.

"Wait a minute." Jade said as she walked over. She pulled the bottom of the couch, turning it into a bed for two. She did the same to the sofas, making them a bed for one person.

"I suggest you and Tori sleep on the couch while Andre and Robbie sleep on the sofas."

"And me?" Beck asked, grinning behind her.

"You can sleep outside if you don't stop with the perverted comments." She told him.

"Okay." He said with a pout, making Jade shake her head again.

"The festival begins tomorrow. It starts at six, so hot about we have dinner around two, get to my favorite café when we are done and then go to the festival?."

"Great idea, but what about tonight?" Tori asked.

"There is a nice beach bar a few minutes away. How about we go there and simply relax?" Jade suggested.

"Why not. We'll party for real once the movie becomes a success." Andre said as he took his case and began looking for some clothes. They all changed and Jade walked them towards the place. The place was empty, which was usual for that time. They placed a few tables together and sat down, each one of them ordering a cocktail.

"Nervous about the pre-premiere tomorrow?" Tori asked her. Everyone looked at Jade, waiting for her answer.

"I am. I really worked hard on this, and I had great people to work with. I can't wait for you to meet them." Jade said.

"How about you introduce us now?" Jade heard a familiar voice say it. She turned around to see Jacob, a blond woman holding his hand, Andrew and Rachel standing behind them. Jade got up and walked over to her boss and the actors. They chatted for a moment, with the others looking on.

"Guys, I want you to meet Jacob, the producer I told you about." She motioned towards him.

"Nice to meet you all." He said as he shook each of their hands. "I heard a lot about you."

"This is Andrew, he plays the killer in the movie, and this is Rachel, she is one of the main heroines." She introduced them. "Hello, nice to meet you." They both said as the others introduced themselves.

"And… I'm sorry, you are?" Jade looked at the blonde woman standing in front of her.

"Jade, this is Monica, the date I told you about the first time you came here." Jacob told her.

"Nice to meet you. You got yourself a good guy there." She said as she looked towards Jacob.

"I know." Monica told her.

"So, what are you guys doing her?" Jade finally asked them.

"Well, I really love this place because of the view and the atmosphere, so I called Andrew and Rachel and asked them if they are up for a double date. I didn't expect to find you here." Jacob explained.

"Come on, sit down with us." Jade invited them. They gladly accepted and they added even more tables to the spot. After getting their drinks, they talked about a lot off things, with one common topic amongst each one of them. Jade.

"So, what do you guys do? Acting? Singing?" Andrew asked as he looked at the group.

"We mostly do both." Cat answered.

"I don't sing. My singing is as bad as it can be." Beck said.

"Oh trust me, you haven't heard Jacob sing." Andrew laughed as the other man turned towards him with a "what the hell" face.

"My singing isn't that bad." Jacob protested.

"Come on. They banned us from all the karaoke bars in the area. They even threw us out when we were in Malibu bar." Andrew said.

"But they don't have karaoke there." Rachel stated, looking confused.

"My point exactly." Andrew stated, making everyone but Jacob laugh. Monica patted her boyfriend on the back as he mumbled something under his breath.

They talked for quite some time. Once they noticed it was actually 2 AM, Jade paid the check and they all separated. Once at Jade's place, everyone went to sleep. Everyone but Jade.

She hadn't caught any sleep for a few days now. She was too nervous. She got out of bed and Beck's arms and slowly walked trough the living room so she didn't wake up anyone else. She stood on the balcony and leaned on the guardrail. She enjoyed the view from there. It calmed her down a bit. She was glad that her friends were here with her. She was glad they all came. It wasn't a small trip, but they did it for her.

"Can't sleep, huh?" Jade jumped a bit when she heard someone. She turned around to see Tori standing behind her.

"Wow, you scared me." Jade said as she tried to calm down.

"Payback for the trailer. But why are you awake at 4 AM?" Tori asked her, leaning on the guardrail next to Jade.

"I haven't really slept well in the past few days. I'm just nervous about tomorrow. Or today, technically." She sighed.

"Jade, stop being like that. The whole time at the bar everyone praised your work. Have some confidence in your skills."

"But what if it fails?"

"What if it succeeds? What if tomorrow you scare the hell out of the audience and the movie becomes a success?"

"I don't know…" Jade sighed. Tori placed her hand on Jade's back and gently rubbed it.

"Jade, you did your best. No one can expect more from you. Try to get some sleep. If you can't, I can keep you company here."

"You really are too nice Tori." Jade said as a small smile formed on her face.

"Yeah, I hear that a lot." She said with a smirk.

"Go to bed. I'll be fine."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. Thank you again." Jade said and Tori nodded, walking back inside. She wasn't alone for long tough.

"You know, last time we stood on a balcony like this, you were leaving." Jade heard Cat say as she walked towards her.

"I remember it like it was yesterday. You didn't take it well."

"I didn't. Hearing you would leave was among the worst news in my life."

"I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to apologize for." Cat said as she walked next to Jade and leaned her head on the taller girls shoulder. "We already talked about it. It's okay. We both did stupid things. We both did mistakes. And guess what? You are still my best friend." Cat felt Jade's arm move as she placed it around her shoulder.

"And you are mine." Jade said softly.

"Now, go to sleep. You have a big day coming." Cat told her.

"I can't sleep. I'm…"

"Nervous, I know. But it's only going to become worse if you are tired. Trust me, I know." Cat said as she took Jades' hand and lead her inside. Jade followed her without resistance. Cat stopped in front of the bedroom door and motioned Jade to walk in.

"Get some sleep." Cat said as she gave Jade a quick hug.

"You too." Jade said as she got inside. She lied down next to Beck again. He immediately wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer. She fell asleep in his arms, finally resting after quite some time.


	18. Premiere

Jade walked into the festival with mixed emotions. Her nervousness was only matched by her excitement. The festival was well attended. There must have been two thousand people there, at least. Beck and the others didn't leave her at any moment. They were waiting for Jacob at the place he told them to.

"Stop biting your fingernails." Cat told her as she took Jade's hands.

"Ugh. I can't help it!" Jade said bitterly. Her savior came in the form of Andre.

"A giant cup of coffee. Here. Now calm down. You look like Beck on caffeine when he had that cricket in his RV and couldn't sleep." Andre said, shaking his head. He watched Jade take a giant gulp. It helped, if only a little.

"When is your movie up?" Tori asked.

"I don't know. I think it's up third or forth." Jade said before she took another big sip.

"Third." They turned around to see Jacob stand there, Monica right beside him. "Now where are Andrew, Samantha and Rachel?" He asked, looking around.

"We haven't seen them." Robbie said as he looked around himself.

"The guy is like eight feet tall. If he was here, we would see him." Beck stated, making everyone nod.

"Six foot seven and you guys must be blind." Andrew said as he walked towards them, Rachel in one hand. Samantha was right behind them, greeting everyone and introducing herself.

"So, ready to go inside? The show starts in fifteen minutes." Jacob said. The others nodded and they headed inside. The festival was help in an open air theatre. A big screen was visible and most seats were already taken. Jacob walked them over towards the fourth row where they all were. They all took their seats, Jade sitting between Beck and Cat, who were between Jacob on Beck's side and Tori on Cat's side. The show opened with an introduction about the festival itself, how long it had been active etc. It was nothing Jade paid special attention to.

Finally, the first movie began. Jade watched it as the first scene came. Jade was somewhat relieved that the movie was nothing more but a gore fest. She herself loved those types of movies, but she also knew that it was a cheap way of making a movie scary. She also knew that too much gore can make the movie look absurd. And this was the case here. It was really ridiculous to the level that a guy was killed with a wooden pencil trough the skull, something impossible, and that five gallons of blood sprayed immediately trough it. When the ending finally came, the crowd gave a standard applause a crowd always gives after something was shown. After a short break and more information about the festival, the second movie began. Jade was relieved again. It was not even the standard slasher. It was one of those movies you just facepalm at and wish it is over. It had way too many twists and the plot was basically nonexistent. The ending was a mess too. Ninety minutes an officer hunts a serial killer, and in the end it's some alien or something like that. The applause at the end was weak. People didn't like it. Jade noticed many people writing down things while watching the movies. She guessed that those people are critics. She also saw many shake their heads.

"Honestly, the competition here is bad." Jacob said as he leaned over towards Jade. Beck nodded in agreement. He had watched so many horror flicks with Jade, he became an expert himself. And he knew that those two were mediocre at best.

After another break, it was finally time for Jade's movie. Jade felt her heart race as the movie began. The first scene came. Jade felt Beck take her hand and give it a weak squeeze. Everyone watched as the first scene continued. Jade observed the critics, who curiously watched the beginning. She noticed some of them nod. She guessed it was because of the sounds and fake scares she used. After a few minutes, the scene with the policemen came. When the killer's silhouette was seen the first time, Jade noticed some people gasping. But when the song "Pop goes the Weasel" was played the first time while the policemen was holding the Jack in the box was the time Jade had actually found confidence in her work. Throughout the whole movie, Jade witnessed the people get actually scared from all the scenes she wanted them too. She turned to Jacob at one scene where one of the protagonists was killed with a pair of scissors, a trademark she had insisted on. She smiled to herself after she had heard some people scream, including some of her friends. She saw him smile and look over to her.

"They like it." Jacob whispered to her. She turned back to watch some of the critics. She noticed that many of them completely stopped writing anything. They seemed absorbed in the movie. Then came the big finale, the part that was a reason of so many frustrations. She watched as everybody was looking on, waiting for something to happen. When the melting scene came, she heard people behind her gasp. It was amazingly done. Right now she was happy she didn't settle for another ending. When the credits began to roll, the crowd began a long, honest applause. Comments like "awesome" and "scary as hell" made her light up even more. The guys got up and left the theatre as it was the last movie shown that day.

"I guess they liked it." Andrew said with a smirk as they were standing outside.

"I guess." Jade said with a smile. She felt like the pressure of the world had been lifted off her shoulders.

"Excuse me; are you the director of the last movie?" A man came up to the young Goth. Jade, startled at first, nodding.

"My name is Frank Mitchell. I am the owner of " He said.

"Oh my god, I know that website. I'm there all the time. Nice to meet you." She said as she extended her hand. He shook it and continued.

"I loved your movie. I will review and recommend it on my site. Was this your first work?"

"Y… yes it was."

"Well, you did a fantastic job. I have to go now. You can find the review on the website tomorrow." He said as he left. Jade watched him leave with her jaw dropped.

"Only one of the biggest horror websites in the country is going to recommend the movie. Well, that's a nice start." Jacob said with a grin. More critics approached Jade in a short amount of time. But the reaction was always the same. Praise and congratulations. An hour later, everyone was in a restaurant Monica had told them about.

"Well Jade, you certainly don't seem nervous anymore." Beck joked, seemingly reading everyone's mind as everyone nodded and laughed.

"Oh come on. How could I have known that everyone would like it?" Jade almost begged.

"Next time you will listen to us when we say it's good." Andrew said. "But now that I'm looking at everything, Jade, did you base the characters on your friends?" Andrew asked, earning a confused look from everyone.

"No, I mean, physically, it's a match. A the dark haired girl who is a writer, the redhead who survives, and is a actress, the brown haired singer who sacrifices herself to save the redhead, the tall boyfriend who searches for the killer, the black friend with dreads and a tall, skinny guy with curly hair and glasses." Andrew said, pointing at everyone as he was listing the characters. Everyone turned to Jade, who was blushing I bit.

"Now it makes sense." Robbie said.

"I guess we now know who she loves the most." Rachel said as she looked over at the other redhead on the table.

"I agree. Looks like you managed to kill off everyone, including yourself, but couldn't kill Cat." Jacob said with a smirk as he took another sip of his drink. The gang turned to Jade.

"I… I simply had an inspiration. I mean, it fit's perfectly into the story." She tried to explain.

"You had me murdered with a pair of scissors into my throat!" Andre yelled in an overdramatic manner as he mimicked a stabbing movement, making everyone at the table laugh.

"Hey, I should be mad, she killed me off." Beck protested. "I mean, I'm her boyfriend, and I get killed before I get my revenge? That was not me." He over dramatized himself. Everyone joined in, pointing out details and laughing at the comments they made, Beck and Andre being the worst. During all this, Jade felt a hand take hers. She turned to her left to see Cat looking at her with a smile.

"So you didn't kill me off, huh?" Cat asked. Jade shook her head.

"I couldn't. But I didn't expect anyone would notice." Jade honestly admitted.

"I still don't know how a five foot four girl can kill a six foot seven monster, but hey, it's a movie right." They heard Andrew join in. "And why are you guys complaining? I had my inner organs melted trough acid. I should be the one who is mad!" he said, acting offended.

"You really suck at acting. Good thing you didn't have any dialogue." Jacob said as he looked over at his friend.

"Oh, I'm sorry that I'm alive." He said with a grimace.

The whole evening went that way. Everyone had fun as they continued to talk about the movie and the people's reaction. Jade was somewhat listening, but spent most of her time talking to Cat, who was still thrilled that her character was the only one who survived.

The next morning the gang was woken up by a loud knock on the door. Tori got up, half asleep, and opened the door to see Jacob and Andrew stand there.

"Hey Tori, are they still sleeping?" Andrew asked, peeking inside.

"Yeah. It's only… 8:30 AM." Tori said after a quick look at the clock. Andrew and Jacob walked in anyway. She noticed them carrying some newspapers.

"Guys, get up, I have to show you something." Jacob yelled. A few moments later, everyone was gathered in the living room, not in a very pleasant mood.

"What is it?" Jade finally asked. Jacob gave her a newspaper opened inside out at one page. She looked at the marked article, her eyes growing wide as she read on.

"What is it?" Cat asked. Jade began reading out loud.

"_An incredible combination of atmosphere and horror._" She read the first line of the review. Everyone slowly began waking up when she read it. She looked back at Jacob, who handed her another one.

"_The way a kid's song and a toy are used to freak you out is incredible and not seen since clockwork orange!_" Andre read out loud as he stared at the article.

"And I could give you ten more that praise it." Jacob told her throwing all the newspapers on the table. "And those aren't just local papers."

"How did you…?" Jade tried to ask.

"Jacob and I went to drink a morning coffee and I bought one of those newspapers. When I saw a review of our movie, a bought one of each newspaper they had. Guess what the two of us found in almost all of them?" Andrew said as he sat down on the table.

"And my bosses are more than happy about that." Jacob said. "They called me and told me to tell you, that we are going distribute it in every major theater in the country." Jacob proudly announced. Jade couldn't believe what she had just heard. She jumped right into his arms, hugging him for dear life. Everyone else congratulated Jade.

"What now?" Beck asked, looking at the producer.

"Now, we are going to show the movie in the cinemas. The premiere is in a month in New York. You guys want to come?" he asked, looking at them. They all turned to Jade.

"Your decision." Beck told her. She took a moment to think. After a minute, she finally spoke up.

"No. Right now, I simply want to go home." She said, looking at her friends

"You don't want to stay until the end of the festival?" Robbie asked. Jade only shook her head.

"No. I simply want to go home again. I need a break from directing." She said with a small laugh as she looked at her friends, and then at Jacob and Andrew.

"I understand. It was a pleasure working with you." He said as he offered his hand for a handshake. She took it, but then pulled him in a hug.

"Thank you for the opportunity. You are the best boss ever." She said softly. She tried to prevent herself from crying, but she was overexcited right now.

"No problem. You did a great job. If you write another script, send it directly to me. I would love to work with you again." He told her.

"If you need another villain, I'm available." Andrew said as he walked over and gave her a goodbye hug.

"You are going to be my first choice." Jade told him as she hugged him back.

"It was nice meeting you all. Maybe we can work together too. Have a nice trip. And watch out for her. She really is a jewel." Jacob said as he and Andrew left. The others waved them goodbye.

"Wait! The apartment, you need the…"

"I got the spare key. Just clean it up a bit before you leave." Jacob told her as he shut the door.

"So, you want to go home?" Tori asked her. Jade only nodded.

"Then let's pack our things and go. I'll call a cab." Andre said as he began making his bed. They left that day, arriving at the airport in the evening. Jade couldn't wait to see her house again. The cab dropped her off last. She walked into her house, happy to be back for good.

She walked towards her room and dropped her luggage. She lied down in her bed and closed her eyes, enjoying the moment. When she heard the door open, she snapped out of her thoughts. She walked downstairs to see her father walk in. He came back from a business trip.

"Dad!" Jade yelled as she ran downstairs, crushing her surprised father with a hug.

"Jade!" He said as he hugged her back. He kissed the top of her head as they walked towards the living room and sat down.

"Dad, the movie great! The critics…"

"I know." He interrupted her as he placed today's newspaper on the table. "I'm extremely proud of you. You followed your dream and were successful with it. I'm sorry I hadn't taken them seriously before." He apologized.

"Thank you." She said as she hugged him again. After they talked for another hour, she went upstairs. She was tired and needed to sleep. The moment she lied down into her bed, the dream world took her in.

A month had passed since she came home. She took the finals and passed them all with hard work and some help from her friends who helped her catch up. Right now, they were sitting at their café again. They were talking about random things and the plans for the summer. During all this, Jade hadn't even managed to see how the movie was going.

"I knew I would find you here." They were interrupted by a man in a suit who parked next to them.

"Jacob?" She gasped.

"Mhm. I have to leave soon, but since I was in LA I figured I'll bring you the numbers." He gave her a sheet of paper. On it was the data about how much money it made in what week and how much it made after the first month final.

"As you see, it made five million on the first weekend. You had a 250% profit in only three days. That's impressive." He said as he pointed at the numbers. "Now, looking at how it drew 30 million dollars in a month, and how we agreed on a three percent share, I guess that makes you a millionaire." He simply said while everyone sat there, stunned at the news.

"Well, if it makes any more money, you will get your share. I have to go now, got a lot of work. And my offer still stands. You write something again, call me." He told her as he got back into his car and left, leaving the gang sitting in silence.

"Oh… my… god…" Jade only muttered, barely.

"Jade, you did it!" Cat squealed as she gave Jade a hug.

"Congratulations." Everyone said. It took her a while to rearrange her thoughts again, but after half an hour, she finally did it.

"What are you going to do now? You could immediately jump to directing." Robbie told her.

"I'll finish school first. But right now, I simply want to enjoy my summer. I need a break from directing." Jade told the others and they nodded, understanding. Jade looked back at the past six months. The hard work she had put into it. The ups and the downs. And looking back at it, she only concluded one thing. It was worth it.


End file.
